This Is Who We Are
by comehitherjustice
Summary: She refused to give in to these feelings – but whevever he looked at her and smiled that infuriatingly lax smile, her will would begin to crumble.
1. Remembering

_May disregard some canon content._

**Disclaimer:** Nope, don't own Naruto.

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**ONE**_  
><em>**_Remembering_**

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Yura stared across the oak desk, past the mess of stacks of paperwork and into the glittering eyes of the Sandaime Hokage. She narrowed her eyes, suspicious of the conniving old man.

"I refuse."

Sarutobi smirked behind the safety of his laced fingers. He sensed hesitation behind her answer, but her decision wouldn't have mattered either way. Yet, he allowed himself to amuse her.

"Your reason being?" Oh how he liked leading people on.

"I dislike responsibility," Yura remarked drily, "which, naturally, means I dislike work. Something that – as you placed it, even the 'menial' task of an observer in the Chunin Exam entails."

"As does your role of a jonin leading your students," Sarutobi pointed out.

Her brows furrowed. "They're an exception," Sarutobi's eyes crinkled as he caught the softening of her tone, "they're mere children, Hokage-sama, who will become great if given the right guidance. The only reason I became jonin was because I wanted to be that right guidance," Yura scowled, "not to involve myself directly in the Chunin Exam."

"Actually, you don't really have a choice, I've already signed your name up," Sarutobi deadpanned.

Yura slumped in her seat and shot the Hokage a look of betrayal. "Hokage-sama, has your old age finally marred your heart?"

He rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore her. "Usually chunin would be considered to fill the job of an observer, but they're either already involved, on missions, or in the hospital. Other jonin have not been through the additional training of the senses as you have, therefore –"

"_Alright_, alright, I'll do it. No need for jabbering." Yura sighed, inwardly cursing herself for waking up this morning. She glowered at the smirk and the triumphant expression the Hokage wore. "But I would like payment for my service."

Sarutobi's smirk widened with his amusement. "My, you make it sound like we're making a deal of the promiscuous sort."

Yura spluttered, her face growing hotter as he chuckled. "I see Jiraiya has gotten to you, what with your dirty mind and copies of Icha Icha everywhere." She coughed, sobering up. "As I was saying, I would like a B-rank mission in return." She met the narrowed gaze of Sarutobi unflinchingly. "They have successfully completed more than fifteen C-rank missions, their teamwork is good, if not a bit rough, and their skills have improved even after…"

"Shimura Aoi." It wasn't a question.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and continued in a lower voice: "I have full confidence in them, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi eyed the young woman for a moment longer before smiling. "Permission for B-rank mission granted."

Yura jumped to her feet with a grin, startling Sarutobi with her sudden change of mood. "Hokage-sama, the day seems a bit brighter, doesn't it?"

He shook his head as he reached for a labelled B-rank mission in his drawer and quickly scanned the contents. "I suppose this will be to your liking?"

"I'm sure it'll be just fine. Perhaps your heart is still as kind as ever, Saru." Yura snatched the file from his hands and disappeared in a puff of smoke before he could reply.

**... ... ...**

It was a humid day despite the intense heat. The kind of weather Yura detested the most.

Her idle thoughts died down as she dodged the kick meant for her head. She sidestepped, snapping out a hand to grab the wrist of her opponent and deftly swept their legs from under them. She grunted with irritation when it turned out to be another clone.

Yura tensed when she heard the faint whizzing sound of a shuriken and jumped on a tree branch. She glanced down and met the smirking face of her student a split second before she reappeared on ground a few feet away. She surveyed the mass of kunai at her previous position with appreciation.

"You're becoming craftier, Toya, not to mention faster."

"I'm glad you think so,_ sensei_."

She spun around to find herself driven backwards by a series of punches and kicks. Dodging another blow, she jumped back and fell into a defensive crouch.

Toya panted and wiped the sweat off his forehead, mirroring Yura's stance. He watched her movements through careful eyes, catching the slight shift before her form blurred. He halted her kick, a chakra-laden hand around her ankle.

A standstill. They gauged each other.

Toya mentally sifted through the meagre information he had on his sensei. She had led the team through nine C-rank missions and five B-rank missions, she was the team's second sensei, her battles were often dynamic, she disliked battles that were drawn out, had a strange liking for explosive tags, and mainly executed wind and earth-based jutsu.

He had good accuracy, better than most other Genin. This observation on Toya was made early during their first sparring session. He also liked creating traps, much to the amusement of the team, as an unsuspecting teammate sometimes fell prey to one that was not intended for them. Although his genjutsu was below average, his taijutsu was strong, his chakra control was decent, and his pools were deep, boosting his use of ninjutsu and his endurance in battle.

"I'm impressed."

Toya grunted and released his grip on her ankle. "I've been working on my speed. A guy called Rock Lee told me to train with weights on."

Yura frowned. The name sounded familiar.

"I'll have to track down said Rock Lee and thank him."

A sudden tremor in the earth caught their attention, drawing their eyes to two other figures further along the training ground. The sight of fallen trees, scorch marks and upended earth made them blink.

"It seems Daiki and Junko have beaten us to ninjutsu." Toya faced Yura. "Shall we begin?"

Yura nodded and signalled him forward.

Toya flew towards her, flinging several kunai with precise aim, which she deflected with her own kunai in hand. They met in the middle, metal clashing, before retreating. Toya concentrated as he infused his chakra into a shuriken, discreetly sliding another underneath.

Yura eyed the shuriken with interest, eyes widening as visible energy began to crackle around the shuriken. She watched him dash forward and throw the shuriken. She grabbed a kunai from her holster on her thigh and wrapped an explosive tag around it, throwing it to meet the shuriken. The collision triggered the explosion of smoke. A gleam of metal in the corner of her eye allowed her to jump back and evade the hidden shuriken.

It was silent while she waited for the air to clear.

Her head snapped up as Toya neared, his hands charged with electricity. She jumped back for some space, her hands flashing through hand seals.

Toya frowned when he noticed the wind becoming increasingly sharper until he was sporting several thin cuts on his arms and cheeks. He let the energy that covered his hands die down and flew through the necessary seals for the grand fireball jutsu. He inhaled sharply and watched with satisfaction as the fire roared in the direction of Yura.

She was filled with pride as she noted the size of the fireball. Forming a hand seal, she was replaced with a log and now resided behind the coverage a nearby tree offered. It was time to end the spar. She made another hand seal and found herself beneath the earth. She released a small amount of chakra to probe at the surface. A few seconds later, her arms broke through the surface to grab hold of Toya's ankles and she pulled him down.

Toya yelped at the contact and was bewildered when he found himself neck deep in the earth a second later. His head shot up to glare at Yura as she chuckled at his situation and ruffled his red hair, his cheeks aflame when he realised how ridiculous he must look.

"I've been waiting for a while to pull that on one of you."

Toya twitched. "That was dirty. Can I get out now?"

Yura smiled and formed a hand seal, watching Toya dust himself off when he was released.

"I need talk to the three of you about something important."

Toya looked at her in surprise, then at his other two teammates who were still battling. "Are you going to stop them?"

Yura _hm_'ed and flung three kunai in the direction of Junko and Daiki.

Toya glanced at her and did a double-take, paling at the familiar gleam in her eye. "Sensei, I didn't exactly have that in mind…"

The amused look she gave him contrasted with the explosions that drew reactions of alarm and indignant yelling.

**... ... ...**

Daiki, Junko and Toya stood in front of her, watching her intently. In turn, she surveyed each of them, from Daiki's green tinted hair to Junko's warm brown eyes to Toya's expectant look. This was her team.

She was hit with another surge of pride.

"I have signed the three of you up for the next Chunin Exam," Yura hesitated and glanced at their expressions of shock and excitement, "take these forms and read them carefully. You do not need to participate if you don't wish to, just tell me and I'll sort it out. You've got almost a week to make your decision."

Junko's face was alight with anticipation. "Yura-sensei, is this the reason why I've seen Sunagakure ninja in Konoha?"

Yura raised a brow in surprise. "Really?"

Cue collective sweatdrop.

"You're quite the observant one, Junko. I suppose it could be that. However, I would expect Kirigakure, Amegakure and possibly other villages to send their genin as well."

"But what if…what if we're not ready?"

Yura noted their strained features, the question obviously breached on sensitive memories.

Before taking the team under her wing, she had read up on their history. Apparently they had been unable to participate in last year's Chunin Exam due to the passing of someone they held dear. Despite knowing she would never be able to completely fill the void their previous sensei left, she had vowed to see them through their obstacles.

"I have watched the three of you progress in skill and mind, and from that I can say you are ready to advance. However, the decision is ultimately yours alone, but I will support whatever you choose and am proud to be your teacher." _As_ _Aoi would have been. _

Daiki broke the uncomfortable silence by exclaiming: "Aw, group hug!" He was met with groans, but the three Genin exchanged playful punches, smiles and smirks.

Yura blinked. "Alright, that's enough. Too much is creepy. Now, there's a restaurant that I've been meaning to try for the last few days, so if–"

"Sensei?" _Rumble _"Won't you take us with you?"

Daiki looked at her pleadingly while Junko blushed and Toya shifted uncomfortably.

"Someday you guys are going to dig a huge hole in my wallet."

**... ... ...**

The sun dissolved in a mass of orange and yellow as early evening approached, the crowds thinning with it. Without the need for dodging civilians left and right, Yura was able to observe the tranquil beauty Konoha held at this time of day while trailing behind her students. She felt comfortable like this, being able to simultaneously protect her team's back and watch their interaction.

"I'm _telling_ you, it's straight ahead," Junko scowled up at Toya who grit his teeth.

"No, we turn here." He stopped in front of a path that ran to the left.

Junko backtracked until she once more stood next to Toya and leaned in, hissing. "_No_, we don't."

They glowered at each other, fists clenched, eyes burning, and ignored by Daiki who whistled as he rounded a corner, not caring to wait for his two teammates.

Yura glanced back and forth between her students before deciding to follow the sane one. Incredulity crept up on her when Junko and Toya didn't seem to notice her as she passed them nearby. They just earned themselves ten laps, she thought drily.

Daiki sat on one of six stools inside Ichiraku and turned to grin at her when the she plopped down on the stool to the left of him. Soon after, Junko and Toya appeared, both looking flustered as they sat on the other side of Daiki.

Daiki opened his mouth to deliver what would surely be an insult, but was interrupted by the arrival of a man – Teuchi, Yura presumed, having heard his running of Ichiraku with his daughter in passing.

Teuchi smiled at them. "What'll it be?"

"One miso ra–"

"One beef ramen and–"

"_Two _large–"

"Two beef ramen and two miso ramen please," Yura cut in, shooting a warning look at her students.

Daiki grumbled and Yura grinned, innocently setting a hand on his head as if patting him before ruffling his already tousled hair.

Sometime later, when she was halfway through her meal and her students were chatting about nonsensical things, she noticed a small slip of a blonde slide into the seat furthest away from them and cheerfully call for his order. Curious, she leant forward on her elbows with feigned casualness to study him better.

The blonde radiated exuberance, evident by his orange jumpsuit, hair, lively cerulean eyes, loud voice and sporadic body language. Her eyes drifted slightly and narrowed at the whiskers on his cheeks, vaguely recalling a particular conversation between Sarutobi and herself.

Yura tore her eyes away to look down at her bowl just as he attempted a subtle glance at her team. She stirred her ramen around and, deciding she was full, made to leave.

"Sensei?"

It was Junko who spoke, catching the attention of Daiki and Toya.

"I'll be leaving now," Yura answered, "be careful on your way home, alright?" She received a chorus of the affirmative. "Good. And remember to meet at the training grounds at nine in the morning tomorrow. We'll be starting your preparation for the Chunin Exam."

She left the due amount of money on the counter, catching the gaze of the blonde. Smiling at him in a manner that hinted at recognition, she turned away and leapt on the roof of a building, hoping a hot shower would ease the flow of questions brought on by her encounter with the young jinchuriki.

**... ... ...**

Groaning, Yura peered at the time and then promptly buried her face into her pillow, wanting to squeeze another hour of sleep in.

Minutes later, she was cursing her conscience while brushing her teeth.

Attaching a kunai holster to her thigh, she reached for the bandages and proceeded to wrap the length of her arms until her wrists. She scrutinised her reflection, ignoring her messy short red hair and fixed the high collar of her long white shirt. A blue sash was tied around her waist, the ends trailing down to her thigh and her black shorts could be seen from the side, where a slit ran in her shirt.

Nodding in satisfaction, Yura slipped on her sandals, wore her forehead protector and started her way towards the training grounds.

Upon arrival, she spied Toya, Daiki and Junko already engaged in a three-way spar and leant against a tree to observe. It seemed Toya and Junko were teaming up against Daiki, utilising the strategy of bait-and-strike.

Toya swiftly formed a set of hand seals and blue electricity flared from his feet, resembling the roots of a tree as it travelled through the surface of the earth towards Daiki. Junko seized the opportunity for a sneak attack when Daiki was occupied with countering Toya's attack. She gripped three kunai in each hand and flung them at him.

Daiki avoided the weapons with ease but his back met the trunk of a tree painfully when Junko suddenly appeared before him and delivered a strong kick to his stomach. He groaned but quickly rolled to the side to avoid Toya's charged palm. Wide-eyed at the sight of singed bark, he whipped his head around to glare at his teammate.

"That would've hurt like hell you bastard!" he snapped.

Toya rolled his eyes but couldn't contain his smirk. "It's a good thing you dodged then."

Junko winced at the bark and turned to Toya, scowling. "Have some restraint will you?"

Yura sighed exasperatedly as Junko and Toya started another round of arguing while Daiki tried to glare a hole in the sky.

"Now that you've warmed up, I hope you're ready for today's training."

Her students blinked at her and then shot to attention. "Yes, sensei!"

"We'll start off with our usual – if you manage to knock the kunai out of my hand within the set time limit, I'll buy the three of you lunch and vice versa." She shifted into a stance and eyed them approvingly when they quickly readied themselves. "_Begin_."

Many hours later when the sky gradually darkened and her stomach was still enjoying that large plate of sushi, Yura stood in front of the memorial stone clasping a flower. Her eyes scanned the names until they stopped at a familiar one. Smiling wistfully, she laid the delicate violet iris in front of it and greeted Aoi.

"It's been a while," she paused but was met only by silence. "My – _our _team is improving. They're good kids; they've got lots of potential." She gazed at the iris, imagining Aoi's dark eyes and continued in a whisper. "You and I never really got to actually speak to each other. You always seemed detached and – and lonely, I think." Her mind flashed back to her students. "We're no more than strangers, but now we share a link," _Daiki, Junko and Toya_, "and somehow I feel like I'm a bit closer to understanding you."

_Rest in peace._

Yura turned to leave, ignorant of the presence of the man who had witnessed her visit.


	2. The Copy Ninja

After hours spent re-watching Naruto and plotting the later events of this story, chapter two has finally emerged. Please enjoy!

_May disregard some canon content. _

**Disclaimer:** I don't deserve the drool-worthiness of Naruto.

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**TWO  
><strong>_**The Copy-nin**_

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Yura sat up in her bed and blinked groggily, trying to remember why the hell she had gotten up before noon on her day off.

_The mattress felt soft and heavenly after another tiring day and she had retired home early just to have extra time to sleep. Pulling the covers over her head, she closed her eyes and was just about to – _

SLAM

_She shot up and looked around wildly, finally whipping towards the window where Anko had poked her head through and was laughing. Her chortles soon died down to be replaced by raspy coughs. _

"_I'm back! Can I come in?" Anko grinned down at her. "And why are you sleeping so early?" _

_Yura glared at her friend, feeling a bit sour. "Rather obvious, no, and because I feel like my feet are heavier than the rest of my body. You really shouldn't disturb tired people, Anko."_

_Anko tsked. "You didn't answer my question." _

"_If you leave now, I'll meet you at that dango place you love tomorrow." She was feeling desperate for sleep._

_Anko took a while to ponder her offer before nodding. "Alright, but we meet before twelve. I want to get my hands on that special they're having before some bastard touches the last one." Light brown eyes squinted. "If that _does _happen, consider yourself doomed by Mitarashi Anko." _

She groaned and wished she had forgotten.

... ... ...

Yura watched with fascination as Anko drummed her fingers on the wooden table. She had never met a person more impatient and crazy for dango.

They had been introduced to each other half a year ago when assigned the same mission and team. The infiltration of the base belonging to a small troupe of scroll-stealing missing-nin had gone smoothly and afterwards when they returned to Konoha, Anko invited her to lunch. Of course, they had still been mere acquaintances, so it was only after Anko extended another invitation to join her for dango did their friendship begin, and they'd coordinated a tradition of having lunch together whenever one or the other returned from their mission ever since.

"So what was it this time? Infiltration, reconnaissance or perhaps assassination?"

Anko quirked a brow. "Reconnaissance, actually. We received orders to scout the northern forest after a few of our shinobi reported haven seen something strange." She looked around suspiciously and lowered her voice. "Originally, we thought the situation was just a strange coincidence, but then we discovered what appeared to be material that had been torn from an Akatsuki cloak and tied around a tree."

Yura narrowed her eyes. "A threat?"

Anko frowned thoughtfully. "It's the only thing we can come up with."

Their conversation was disrupted by the arrival of their order. Anko gleefully snatched up a skewer of dango and bit into the treat, moaning audibly, while Yura worked through her own with less fuss.

"Enough about my mission – tell me how your kids are doing."

"Well, they've been training harder than ever to prepare for the Chunin Exam."

"Oh? So they're good enough?" Anko laughed at Yura's glare. "If that's the case, I may as well say I'm the proctor of the second task."

Yura smirked. "Why aren't I surprised? Knowing you, you probably requested the job specifically."

"Oh I did." Anko winked, taking another bite out of her dango.

"You just want to enjoy the look on their faces once you've given them a good scare," Yura accused.

Anko polished off her skewered dango before bothering to answer. "Exactly. Besides, every genin deserves a healthy dose of fear now and then. Say…have you heard of the rookie nine?"

Yura's blank expression answered for her.

Anko shook her head in disbelief. "Do you live under a rock or something? They're the three teams that just graduated from the academy and are entering the Chunin Exam," she leant forward, "but that's not all, one of the team's sensei happens to be _Hatake Kakashi._"

Yura blinked, wondering if she was missing out on something. "They must be talented kids."

Anko flapped a hand. "Yes, yes, but that's not the point. Hatake has _never _passed a team before this one."

"…I see." Yura couldn't think of anything else to say about the matter and she certainly couldn't speak about him familiarly. Of the nearly twelve months of her stay in Konoha, she had seen and been in meetings with the silver haired man, but she'd never uttered a word to him. Of course, his name and reputation were everywhere; the man who copied over a thousand techniques by use of his Sharingan, the legendary Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi.

"_Crap!_"

She jumped at the sharp curse. "What–"

"Gotta go and give the Hokage the mission report," Anko grimaced. She jabbed a finger at their plate of dango and bowls of anmitsu. "Don't let perfectly good food go to waste."

Yura barely had enough time to call out a farewell before Anko was gone. Shrugging, she sipped at her tea and almost spat it out when she realised she was left with the bill.

... ... ...

_The next day…_

Naruto sighed wearily and couldn't help mourning how his team had returned to those idiotic D-rank missions after the C-rank escort mission…which actually turned out to be A-rank, but whatever. Lost in his musings, he hardly noticed another person in his path until he felt his body being knocked backwards. Two hands grasped his shoulders and steadied him.

"Sorry about that, I was daydreaming." The hands retreated.

Naruto looked up into familiar dark blue eyes and red hair. "Oh hey, you're that lady sensei from Ichiraku Ramen!"

The woman blinked. "And you're that kid who ate more than five bowls of ramen."

"Heh, that's me, Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage!" he grinned at her.

"Hokage, eh? That's quite an ambition. My name's Yura. I'd talk more but I'm actually headed to the training grounds, so I'll see you later, Uzumaki." She meandered around him, waving.

Naruto nodded, watching her retreating form curiously for a couple of seconds before continuing his way towards home. Boy did he have a lot to think about – those crappy missions with equally bad clients, beating Sasuke, becoming Hokage, Kakashi's odd little book, Sakura, and then the Chunin Exam. He blinked and ceased walking, taking no notice of the short old man behind him who waved his cane irately when he collided with the blonde's back.

Whirling around, he pointed a finger at…a tree? "Eh?" _She disappeared._ He shook his head and ran in the direction of the training grounds. He skidded to a stop at the sight of Sakura and Sasuke.

"Hey, you guys, I'm going to spy on Yura-sensei. Wanna come?"

His teammates stared at him incredulously.

"'Spying'? Why on earth – wait, Naruto, did you just ask us to join you in spying on a _sensei?_" Sakura was nearly shrieking at him.

Sasuke, although feeling equally confused, merely raised a brow.

"Yes, Sakura-chan, that's what I said," Naruto said slowly, as if speaking to a toddler. "Do you need to get your ears checked because – OUCH!"

Sakura scowled at him and withdrew her fist.

"Idiot, why would you want to spy on a sensei?" Dark brows furrowed. "Come to think of it…I haven't ever heard of a ninja by that name before. Is she a jonin like Kakashi?"

Naruto gave Sasuke the stink eye. "First of all, you're a bastard. Second, yeah, I know she's a jonin because I've seen her team at Ichiraku," he crossed his arms haughtily, "and overheard that they've entered the Chunin Exam as well. Also, we ran into each other a few minutes ago and she left saying something about being at the training grounds, and there's a chance that she's training her team, so that's why I'm going to spy on her."

Sakura didn't respond, busy marvelling at his rare use of logic.

On the other hand, Sasuke felt his stomach jump at the mention of the Chunin Exam. "This is a good chance for us. We shouldn't pass this up."

"That's right," Naruto all but chirped.

Sakura eyed her teammates worriedly. "Are you sure?"

Sasuke turned his onyx eyes on her. "Think about it Sakura, we'll be able to gauge the skills of some of the other competitors. It could be to our advantage. Or…would you rather enter the exam completely blind?"

"I understand where you're coming from, but what if we get caught? We'll get into trouble!"

"Then we _don't._"

She sighed. "Alright, but if we do, it's not my fault."

... ... ...

Junko, Daiki and Toya were ducking, dodging and doing everything else they could to avoid the barrage of high speed projectiles. It was rather comical to watch, with their movements being limited to the surface of the river.

Yura let their glowers slide past her harmlessly.

Then again, they probably didn't expect this particular training session to be on their agenda when she said they would be working on their evasive skills.

"_This exercise will let you hone your concentration and evasive skills amongst others,"_ she'd said.

The cheeky brats then had the nerve to say, _"We just think you're crazy."_

They definitely more than deserved what they were getting.

Junko twisted her body in an awkward angle to evade a shuriken. Her sigh of relief faded into a squeak when she caught sight of a kunai less than a metre from her nose. She made to run left, but collided with a body and her slip of focus was enough to send her splashing into the water. She broke the surface, spluttering and turned to face Toya's glare.

Unfazed, she returned the look. "This is what happens when you get in my way, Oshiro."

"I should be saying that to you, Suruba."

Yura ignored the soaked arguing pair and focused on Daiki, who alternated between shooting looks of irritation at his teammates and watching her warily.

Koga Daiki, as recorded on his report, was a rather bright student. His intelligence, chakra control and observational skills greatly aided his frequent use of genjutsu, but his speed and reaction time weren't the best – which was why she had formulated this exercise for him in particular.

He seemed to handle the last array of weapons well enough and one couldn't improve unless pushed. Really, there was only one thing left to do.

_BOOM_

"GAH! YOU CRAZY WOMAN!"

... ... ...

Behind a nearby large bush, Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke were gaping at the billows of smoke that obscured the green-haired boy from sight.

"E-Explosive tags?" Sakura twitched. "Is she trying to kill him?"

Naruto shivered. "I'm glad Kakashi-sensei isn't this merciless."

"If he was, you definitely wouldn't be able to keep up."

His head snapped in Sasuke's direction. "WELL I BET I'D STILL – _MMPH!_"

"_Dumbass, _do you want us to be discovered?" Sasuke hissed, a hand clapped over Naruto's loud mouth.

Sakura's eyes darted around nervously. "I think we should leave quickly. There's no doubt they've noticed us by now."

A kunai thudded into the trunk of a tree behind Sasuke, slicing a few strands of raven hair. They froze and turned to see the boy with green hair and Yura staring at their hiding place.

"Whoever you are, why don't you come out already?"

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other and reluctantly exposed themselves.

... ... ...

"Uzumaki?" Yura said uncertainly, perplexed by his presence. "Why are you here?"

Daiki looked at her from the corner of his eye. "You know them, sensei?"

"Only the blonde."

Naruto scratched his head. "Uh, well, my teammates and I were kind of…"

"We were hoping to have an idea of the skills and capabilities of our opponents in the upcoming Chunin Exam."

Yura flicked her eyes to the dark haired boy on Naruto's left, taking in his confident pose and cool onyx eyes.

Daiki crossed his arms. "I'm Koga Daiki. What are your names?"

"I'm Haruno Sakura."

"Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

_Interesting…the Uchiha survivor, a jinchuriki, and judging by the look Haruno gave Uchiha, a fangirl. I wonder who the lucky person is…_

"Who is your sensei?"

The girl, Sakura, blinked. "Hatake Kakashi. Why do you ask?"

"_Say…have you heard of the rookie nine?" _

_Yura's blank expression answered for her._

_Anko shook her head in disbelief. "Do you live under a rock or something? They're the three teams that just graduated from the academy and are entering the Chunin Exam," she leant forward, "but that's not all, one of the team's sensei happens to be Hatake Kakashi." _

Yura smiled. "Just curious. Perhaps you should leave now; my team's done for the day."

"We are?" Daiki asked, sounding hopeful. He sighed in relief at her nod and ducked when she tried to ruffle his hair.

... ... ...

Yura parried the overhead swipe, gritting her teeth at the pressure her clone was putting behind its sword. She knocked the sword to the side and slashed at her clone's torso, missing as it leapt back. It formed a hand seal and charged towards her, the silver blade glowing faint blue. She mimicked her clone and released the seal on her sword, the stored wind chakra infusing with the metal.

The fight took place on ground then amongst the trees. The blurs of red and blue clashed and Yura felt her movements becoming strained as she grew wearier. She twisted her sword and knocked her clone's out of its hands. Panting, she nodded at it and her clone dispersed along with its sword. She sheathed Aogari where its scabbard was strapped to the blue sash around her waist, and looked up at the darkening sky. She grimaced; the hours had flown since she had dismissed her team that afternoon.

A twig snapped and she automatically fell into a stance, but straightened when she recognised who it was. "Hatake?"

Said man watched her from his place on the ground with one of his hands in his pocket and the other holding on to a little orange book that she had seen in Sarutobi's hands. As usual, his black mask concealed the lower portion of his face and his forehead protector covered his left eye where lay his Sharingan. Despite his mystery, many women in Konoha had remarked that it leant him 'a certain air' that contributed to his overall good looks.

His visible eye crinkled. "Nice kenjutsu, Yura."

"Eh, thanks," she said, surprised he knew her name. She jumped from her perch on a tree branch and landed in front of him. "Your students were here earlier, spying on my team. When we caught them, they said something about observing their opponents in the Chunin Exam. Clever bunch, aren't they?"

"They're just sneaky. I'm pretty sure it was either Naruto or Sasuke's idea." Kakashi scratched his head. "Sorry if they caused you any trouble."

Yura stared at him. _You don't look or sound sorry. _"It's fine. What're you doing here anyway?"

"Just taking a walk for fresh air. I heard the noise of a battle so I came here to check it out."

She raised a brow and pointedly looked at the book in his hand. "It's a wonder you can see where you're going with your nose behind something."

Kakashi chuckled and Yura couldn't help but notice its low, husky tone. "It's a skill I've acquired through practice."

She blinked and wondered if he had practiced with _that _book in particular. The thought made her cheeks warm and she scolded herself. "I see."

They were engulfed in an awkward silence. Yura shifted uneasily and froze when she realised Kakashi was undoubtedly aware of her every movement.

"Well, I'll leave you to your training. See you around." And then Kakashi turned around and walked away, his nose buried in the little orange book and all.

Yura sweatdropped as he swerved abruptly at a tree stump and continued as if nothing happened. She sighed, her mind already replaying her encounter with the silver-haired jonin and made a clone, preparing for another round of combat.


	3. Their Second Encounter

_To my readers_

: I'm glad you like this. As for the characters being hard to follow, I'll be sure to keep the amount of OCs at a minimum. Also, Yura's students don't exactly have significant roles, so their appearances will be pretty brief.

Angels Messenger:Wow, thank you! I'm glad you like this story and I can assure you I won't be giving up on this one.

_May disregard some canon content. _

**Disclaimer:** Naruto is in safe hands (not mine).

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**THREE  
><strong>_**Their Second Encounter**_

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She strolled along a reasonably secluded street, watching the fluffy white clouds drift across the sky. Her team had just returned from a sequence of D-rank missions that the clients were too lazy to do. Honestly, painting the fence? Tending to the garden? Bathing the dog? She scoffed. It was ridiculous how teams were still being given missions despite there only being two more days before the first phase of the Chunin Exam.

Yura blinked as a figure streaked past, cursing. Immediately after, a stampede of girls appeared in sight, and she leapt on to the roof of a nearby building to admire the vast amount of adolescent girls screaming _'YOU'RE SO HANDSOME SASUKE-KUN!' _She winced at the horrid pitch. Fan clubs were lethal.

Once the fangirls disappeared, she returned to her task of tracking down a genin by the name of Rock Lee. There was a hitch, however, because she had no idea where he was and she wasn't bothered to search for him everywhere. She considered the direction Sasuke ran in; perhaps she could start from there.

She found him standing on the branch of a tree with his hands on his pockets. He seemed to be surveying the area warily, as if his fan club would suddenly pop up.

"Sasuke," Yura greeted. Her hand flashed up and caught the shuriken, surprised at the speed he threw it.

He narrowed his eyes. "It's you again. What do you want?"

"Relax. I just want to know if you recognise the name Rock Lee. He's a genin like you."

"No, I've never heard of him." Sasuke curiously observed her wilting in disappointment.

"Well, do you know where Hatake is?"

"He's in the bookstore a few blocks from the academy, probably reading up on those perverted novels of his," he said nonchalantly.

Fitting the description to _Minami's Books_, Yura thanked him and body flickered inside of the bookstore. She perused the aisles until she found the Icha Icha series, but Hatake seemed to be absent.

The covers of the two books depicted a man chasing a woman and a girl delivering a kick to a peeping tom. Realising the opportunity, she ensured the only person in the aisle was herself before snatching up the first book. She stared at it determinedly, finally being able to figure out what made this _thing _so interesting. The Hokage may have foiled her attempt at trying to sneak a peek from his copy, but now…she was unstoppable. With a feeling of smugness, she flipped open to a random page and began reading.

Her face burned at the shameless amount of explicit content. Only the biggest pervert of perverts could manage to write such an abomination. She slammed the book shut, trying to forget what she just read but to no avail.

"Well, well, look who it is," a smooth voice drawled.

She jumped and fumbled with the book in hand, turning to meet a dark grey eye that smiled at her with amusement. She thought it was ironic how she was the one who had set out to look for him, but it was he who found her, albeit in a sufficiently embarrassing circumstance.

Hatake raised a brow in surprise. "You read Icha Icha?"

She frowned at him, but it was ineffective because of her still present blush. "I don't," she defended, tossing the book back on the shelf. "I was just curious."

"Oh, but of course." He studied her with a strange pensive gleam in his eye that made her feel wary. It was a look that sparked an odd sensation in her stomach. Whether it was his intention or not, Yura decided she did _not _like how it affected her.

Yura coughed lightly, hoping to dispel the uncomfortable feeling. "I'm actually here to ask if you know a genin called Rock Lee."

Hatake _hm_'ed. "He's one of Gai's students."

"One of Gai's students," she echoed thoughtfully. "Would you happen to know where he is?"

"He should still be in the training field with his team at this hour. Why the interest?"

She shrugged. "He did a favour for my student. I may as well thank him."

"Lee is quite the charitable person," Hatake agreed.

"Right," Yura said awkwardly after a brief pause. "Thanks for your help, Hatake. I'll be going now." She tried not to appear too eager as she turned to leave.

"Wait."

Her feet stopped on their own accord, and she tensed as she felt fingers in her hair. A few long seconds passed before they retreated and a leaf appeared in her vision. She blinked.

"There, it's out."

She narrowed her eyes, irritated at his unnecessary invasion of her personal bubble; it was just a _leaf_. Despite her being faced away, it was like he could sense her agitation because he chuckled softly.

"Tell Gai I said hello." His tone suggested he was only teasing her.

She jerked her head in a nod and walked stiffly to the door, making a mental note to distance herself from Hatake and the weird, unwelcome feeling she found he was capable of inducing.

**... ... ...**

Kakashi watched with amusement as Yura made her way to the door, clearly uncomfortable. He trailed his eye along the length of her legs thoughtfully. She was easily very pretty with her slender form, bright hair and stormy blue eyes. However, he had seen more attractive women, which was why he didn't understand what compelled him to touch her vermilion coloured hair after she had turned around and he found an excuse.

She didn't know it, but he had been assigned to follow her around during the first week of her residence in Konoha. It's true that you could discover the personality of a person just from observing them, and that's what he did. He had found her quirks and he had found _her _interesting. Time, however, allowed him to forget by throwing missions and a new genin team in his arms.

Then there was that evening he found her training. He was reminded of how he would watch her train for hours while sitting in a nearby tree. And when she had looked at him with surprise after he'd called her out…it gave him a delightfully perverse feeling that he was a stranger to her while he considered her to be an old friend.

Now that he remembered what he had forgotten, Kakashi thought as he thumbed through a special edition of Icha Icha Violence, he was looking forward to rediscovering _her_ and finding out what she possessed that called out to him in the process.

He smirked behind his mask. Something told him the experience would change things for both of them.

**... ... ...**

"Gai!" Yura shouted, waving overhead as she neared the training grounds where she saw her friend and three others that she assumed to be his students. Gai looked over his shoulder curiously before grinning and striking a pose. She halted in front of him and sweatdropped as he continued ranting.

"–siastic greeting from a lovely young lady must make it a special day! Indeed, it seems youthfulness as infected all of Konoha this fine afternoon. Why, I myself am feeling rather sunny and especially fit!" When finished, he looked at her expectantly.

She stared, unsure of what to say. "Uh…it's nice seeing you as well." His subsequent beam assured her it was the right response. "Oh, and Hatake sends his greeting."

Gai smirked. "Heh, that Kakashi is always trying to be cool. Of course, it doesn't dampen my opinion of him being my eternal rival!" He sobered. "But that's not the only reason you came here, correct?"

Yura hesitated, taking in their company. A girl with two buns was throwing a succession of kunai at a marked post, under which a Hyuuga sat. A short distance away from them, a boy who resembled a smaller and younger version of Gai was executing flawless taijutsu against an imaginary opponent. "Yes. I want to have a word with Lee, if that's alright with you."

"Lee?" Gai said in surprise. "I see…he must be becoming famous in Konoha for his skills. Very well, I will ask him to join us." Before she could reply, he turned his back on her and boomed, "HALT YOUR TRAINING OF YOUTH, LEE! A WOMAN IS REQUESTING YOUR PRESENCE!"

She twitched, wondering if the volume he took was entirely necessary. Although she did enjoy his amiable and rather humorous company, his liveliness could be a bit too much at times.

A green blur zipped towards them and stopped in front of Gai, saluting. It was obvious Rock Lee was the boy who was performing taijutsu earlier, as the name didn't include 'Hyuuga' or sound feminine.

She glanced back and forth between the two. When standing next to each other, the resemblance was remarkable; they had the same haircut, green spandex suit and similar eyebrows, not to mention their aptitude for taijutsu. She scrutinised Lee. Could he be the next Gai?

"Lee, this is my friend, Yura. She wishes to speak to you, so remember to be a gentleman!"

Yura met the rounded eyes of Lee and smiled apologetically. "Sorry for interrupting your training, Lee."

He shook his head, pink dusting his cheeks. "It is of no matter, Yura-san. What is it you wish to speak to me about?"

"My student, Oshiro Toya."

His eyes lit up in recognition. "Ah, I remember Toya-kun!"

"Yes, well, he mentioned that you found him training one day and took him shopping to buy weights. Because he has been training with them, his speed has improved. You didn't have to help him in any way but you chose to, so thank you, Lee."

Lee stared up at her with glassy eyes and sniffed. "I am touched by your words of gratitude, but I truly felt it was my duty to provide assistance to a fellow genin. When I first saw him training, it was evident his flames of youth were burning brightly; I merely wished to fan them!"

"Lee…" Gai said shakily, a shadow casting over his features. He abruptly lifted his face to reveal thick streams of tears. "WHY DIDN'T YOU MENTION THIS TO ME?"

"I am sorry, Gai-sensei! Will you forgive me?"

Gai placed a hand on his pupil's shoulder. "Of course, Lee! I'm just glad you have become such a noble person. Now, we shall both run a hundred laps, and if we fail that, we shall do two hundred kicks!"

"Yes sensei!"

Yura blinked and suddenly they were gone and she was abandoned. Was it really that easy to forget her existence?

"Um, excuse me?"

She turned to see the girl who had been target practicing peering at her curiously. "Who are you? I'm Tenten," she gestured to the Hyuuga boy by her side, "and this is Neji."

Neji cast Tenten a look of annoyance. "I can introduce myself." His white eyes bored into hers. "Well?"

_This guy reminds me of Sasuke...they're both rude. _"Amori Yura," she replied, nodding at both of them. She caught Tenten's gaze lingering at her sash and guessed her source of interest. "My sword is called Aogari. Do you want to have a look?"

Tenten smiled embarrassedly. "Is it okay?"

Yura nodded and unstrapped her sword, passing it to the young girl who gripped the handle comfortably.

"You're a natural," she said, watching as Tenten unsheathed Aogari and gave an experimental swing.

"I mainly use weapons when I fight," Tenten explained, blushing at the compliment. She inspected the blade and ran her finger along the surface. "It's well crafted. 'Aogari' huh…"

A flash signalled the arrival of another person.

"Amori Yura, the Hokage is expecting you in his office," a muffled voice said behind a porcelain Anbu mask.

"Got it, I'll be there shortly."

The Anbu didn't reply but disappeared.

Tenten held out Aogari. "I better give this back. Thanks again for letting me take a look."

Yura reattached her sword and smiled at the younger girl, liking her friendliness. "No problem. Later, Tenten," she looked over to Neji who had merely observed their interaction the entire time, "Neji."

She hopped across rooftops and stopped at the base of the Hokage Tower. Eyeing the open window on the seventh floor, she smirked before gathering chakra at the soles of her feet and jumping to land on the window sill. There, Junko, Daiki and Toya stood in front of Sarutobi and blinked at her sudden appearance.

"Why don't you use the door for once, Yura?" Exasperation filled the wizened voice of the Hokage.

"It'd take too long to open," Yura retorted. She looked at her students and narrowed her eyes at Sarutobi suspiciously. "Don't tell me this is another mission?"

Sarutobi coughed. "It is. Once again, Tora the cat has escaped and the wife of the fire daimyo has requested that she be found."

Junko groaned. "I heard that cat's notorious for being harder to find every time a genin team looks for her. This could take hours!"

"You're looking for a brown cat with a red ribbon on her right ear." Sarutobi pushed three of the four radio transceivers on his desk towards Junko, Daiki and Toya and held out the fourth to Yura. "These will help your search. I suggest you start now or else you may not catch her before nightfall. "

Yura sighed in resignation. "Alright then. Junko, Daiki, Toya, let's get moving."

_**... ... ...**_

"…_but anyway, my mum make this really nice dinner on the night of the festival!"_

"_Yeah? What did you have?"_

"_Well, there was pork katsu with, you know, that weird cabbage thing and mixed–"_

"_Be quiet Junko, Daiki." _

"You too, Toya," Yura added to annoy him. "Now, have any of you seen signs of our target?"

"_Nope."_

"_Negative."_

"…"

"Daiki?"

"_I've got her!" _A pause._ "We've spent at least two hours looking for you, you know? I don't understand what all the fuss is about…you're not even that pretty! Look at that belly, I mean, what have you been eating?"_

"_Watch it! She could be pregnant."_

Sigh. _"Mission accomplished." _

**... ... ...**

Her team had raced off to god knows where after they received their mission allowance, but by the sounds of their excited chatter it was probably to get food.

She entered a sushi store and was surprised when there were only three others seated as it was usually busy during this time of day. She sat at a table on the opposite side of the room and gave her order to a waiter. Bored, she observed her company.

A blonde with her hair divided into four ponytails sat next to a redhead who didn't appear to be touching his food. To his right sat another boy who dressed in all black and wore a black hood with cat-like ears. Their heads were lowered so she couldn't see their features, but their clothes suggested they were from another village. So, they were here for the Chunin Exam, huh?

"Here you are, miss." A waitress set down her order and bowed.

"Thank you." Yura smiled happily at her meal of teriyaki chicken sushi, takoyaki and miso soup, and attacked it with her chopsticks.

After finishing her dinner and paying, she stood up to leave, meeting the eyes of the blonde girl for a split second before she left the shop. She had only taken a few steps in the direction of her apartment when she heard a hiss.

"Gaara, what's wrong?" Yura heard a feminine voice ask from behind.

_Gaara…_The name sounded familiar somehow.

"Her…that woman…there's something not right."

Confused, she turned around to ask if they were talking about her. The question, however, died on her lips because staring back at her were wide jade eyes ringed with black. It was _him._

She blinked to make sure she wasn't dreaming, but he was still there, his companions standing by his side. Those green eyes narrowed at her.

"_You."_

How long had it been? Five years? Six? He was so little and young when she first met him.

"_Did my father send you? You're the third one this week, you know." The boy's childish voice contrasted with his sharp, accusing eyes._

"_Yes…I know." _

It was such an odd encounter that she could remember it even after all these years, and as she gazed back into his cold eyes, she imagined his younger self in his stead.

"Hello again, Gaara."


	4. The Chunin Exam Begins

Ever since I returned to school a few days ago, my bag's been loaded with homework –cries–. I'm also trying to catch up with the manga, so my updates will be slower. Sorry!

_May disregard some canon content. _

**Disclaimer:** Bah, Naruto isn't mine.

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**FOUR  
><strong>_**The Chunin Exam Begins**_

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_It was such an odd encounter that she could remember it even after all these years, and as she gazed back into his cold eyes, she imagined his younger self in his stead._

"_Hello again, Gaara."_

His stared at her with a strange expression for a few seconds before his eyes flicked up to look at her forehead protector. "You're a Konoha shinobi? How unexpected."

Yura searched his face, but he concealed any hints of what he was thinking. She noted the foreign smoothness of his features and the blank expression he wore. It was unsurprising that he had changed with time – it was inevitable.

"What's more is that we should meet here."

Gaara tilted his head towards his companions. "These are my siblings, Temari and Kankuro. We're here for the Chunin Exam."

_Just as I thought. _Yura smiled half-heartedly at them. "I'm Yura."

Temari and Kankuro nodded reluctantly. They obviously didn't trust her and probably had more of a reason not to when they realised she and Gaara were acquainted. She wasn't blind; the constant wariness they showed when at their brother's side was as clear as day. They feared him.

"Will you be there?"

She blinked at the question, wondering where it was heading. "Yes. My team is a part of it."

"If that's so, I want you to watch me. I want to show you how much stronger I have become," Gaara's eyes narrowed, "…without the need for friendship or love."

Yura winced. His words were like a stab to the gut, suggesting it was her fault he was no longer the same person.

_Wide, hopeful green eyes that were once cold stared into hers. _

"_So then…if you really mean that…will you be my friend?"_

_Everything about him screamed hope and it pained her. He was naïve, still just a child. He couldn't possibly understand why she couldn't stay…_

She shook her head. "I'm sorry."

Gaara turned wordlessly, Temari and Kankuro confusedly following his movements, and walked away from her.

Alone, she sighed and looked up at the crescent moon. She knew what he must have wanted to say to her, what he must have wanted to shout at her face. The pain, anger and confusion were all there when he declared his power.

The unspoken word was true...

"Traitor," she whispered.

**... ... ...**

She was late, which was the reason she was contemplating whether or not her alarm clock was rigged. The man she had bought it from certainly looked shady.

She landed in front of the entrance of the academy and started her search for room 201. The hallways were quiet which meant the genin were in room 301 and the meeting for the examiners of the first phase of the exam had started. Solely focused on finding the classroom, she rounded a corner and collided with something. She looked up and twitched. Or some_one_.

A dark grey eye peered at her over the top of an orange book with surprise before smiling. "Hello _Yura_."

She frowned. There was something suspicious about the lilting way he said her name. He seemed to pop up a lot recent and it was frustrating because she had resolved to avoid the man.

It took her a few seconds to realise he was standing less than half a metre away, something she realised was unhealthy since their run-in two days ago, and took a big step back, trying to appear casual. And then she spotted the laughter in his eye and knew she had failed.

"Did you just drop off your students?" Despite her discomfort in his presence, she decided to be at least civil to him. After all, it wasn't as if he was intentionally making her feel strange with those looks he gave her, that deep smooth tone he used, or his breach of her personal space…right?

Right.

"Not exactly. I only came to wish them good luck." He looked up thoughtfully. "Now I'm probably going to read a bit." He gazed at her shrewdly. "It'd be less lonely if you joined me."

Yura gaped at him. She was positive the implications of his words were perverse. He made it sound as if he merely wanted her to keep him company, but if one read between the lines…

She narrowed her eyes. "I've got a meeting to attend."

Hatake blinked. "That's too bad. I'm really curious about you after all." All of a sudden he closed the distance between them at an alarming speed. His dark eye remained riveted on hers as he leant in close enough so that she could feel his body heat. "So don't be too much of a mystery, okay?"

Yura watched him through wide eyes as he pulled back and brushed past her, his footsteps fading with a quiet chuckle. The familiar sensation in her stomach had returned with a vengeance when he had appeared only a few inches away from her. Now she was sure he knew, or to an extent, the effect he had on her. If Hatake thought this was a game, she would make it difficult for him to win whatever it was he sought. She refused to be played.

She stood there for the next minute, pondering over Hatake's advances but only managing to achieve the beginnings of a headache. Resigned and frustrated, she found classroom 201 and slid the door open with more force than necessary.

"About time you arrived," a rough voice said.

Yura took in the group of chunin and Ibiki standing in the centre of the room. She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry Ibiki-san. My alarm clock was rigged and then I got side-tracked by another jonin on my way here." She ignored the few looks of confusion her explanation earned.

Ibiki looked at her blankly. "Anyway, now that you're here, I'll briefly cover our duties for the first phase in case any of you have forgotten. The written exam is under the guise of being your typical test paper; however, we have made it so that barely any ordinary genin can answer the nine questions. Naturally, the genin would then resort to cheating, and that's where you guys come in.

"Your task is to pick off those incapable of executing discreet information gathering skills. Of course, if none of them know the answers and they cheat off each other, there will be all sorts of mistakes, which is why there will be two chunin who know the answers added into the mix.

"Focus on the kids in the area you have been assigned to watch and record their progress on your clipboards. Once you have caught a genin cheating five times, they and their team will be eliminated from the Chunin Exam. Later on I will hand out the tenth question to them. Does anyone have a problem with that?" He continued when no hands were raised. "Good. Let's go."

Yura made a hand seal and reappeared in room 301 with the others.

"_Quiet down you punks!"_

The plume of smoke dissipated to reveal the vast amount of chunin hopefuls looking at them in surprise.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Ibiki said. "I'm the proctor of the first test of the Chunin Selection Exam, Morino Ibiki." He frowned and pointed a finger in the direction of a small group gathered at the back of the classroom. "You three from Otogakure, don't think you can do anything you want before the start of the exam. Do you want us to fail you already?"

Yura tuned out, distracted by the demonic eyes Junko, Daiki and Toya were sending her. They sat next to Gai's team, probably the result of Lee recognising Toya. She beamed at them and sweatdropped when they glared even harder.

_That's right…I never did tell them I would be involved in the Chunin Exam… _

Soon enough, she was seated in one of the chairs on the right side of the room. Ibiki proceeded to explain and write out the 'rules' on the chalk board. The genin were paying rapt attention, hanging on his every word. He had thrown in hints that they were expected to cheat like true shinobi. It would be a shame if they didn't notice the subtle encouragement and failed as a result.

At precisely half past three, the room was silent, save for the scribbling of pencils on paper.

Yura scanned the genin in front of her. They were the ones she had been assigned to watch. A boy with a small dog sitting on top of his head paused once in a while to whisper something to the dog. In front of him was an Oto-nin who appeared to be concentrating on something – most likely somebody's writing. It would be easy for him to determine what a person was writing.

Toya seemed to have gotten the correct answers by the way he was staring at the back of one of the chunin's head triumphantly. Daiki had cast a simple genjutsu on the girl in front of him and was in the process of relaying the answers to Junko. Assured that they would be fine, Yura returned her attention to the rest of the genin she was in charge of.

"Excuse me?" It was Gaara's brother, Kankuro, who spoke out.

"What is it?"

"I need to go to the bathroom..."

The chunin clasped handcuffs around Kankuro's wrists and held an end of the rope that had been tied around the hinge. "The rules say we have to accompany you."

Kankuro seemed almost too willing, and as the chunin made to move she noted his stiff movements and how he possessed hardly any chakra, save for Kankuro's at points of his limbs. He or _it _wasn't a chunin at all. She caught Ibiki's eyes and made a hand signal to which he nodded at. It seemed he and the chunin were aware of the genin's puppet.

After Kankuro had returned from his escapade, Ibiki stopped the genin to give the tenth question.

"First, you are all going to choose whether or not to take the tenth problem."

Temari's features twisted in confusion. "'Choose'? So what happens if we decide not to take it?"

Ibiki didn't blink. "If you choose not to take the question, your points will be reduced to zero. In other words – you will fail alongside your teammates. However there is another rule; if you choose to take the question and get it incorrect, you will lose the privilege to participate in the Chunin Exam again."

The shocked expressions were proof of how well he was able to push people psychologically. The tenth question didn't exist – or rather, the tenth question was whether or not they would continue forward. It was a test of determination, courage, will and a lesson. They would learn that once you started something, quitting halfway wasn't an option and in order to overcome an obstacle you would have to face it head on.

"Those who will not be taking this tenth question, raise your hands. After we confirm your numbers we will have you leave."

There was a brief hesitancy amongst the genin, until one quit and a few others followed.

She met the troubled and unsure eyes of her students with a neutral gaze. As much as she wanted to tell them to pin their arms to their sides, she couldn't allow herself to be an interfering outside force because the question was intended for them to make their own choices.

The air was still tense, but then–

_Slam. _"Screw you; I'm not going to run away! I'll take the stupid question, because even if I remain a genin forever, I'll be Hokage eventually. I'm not scared at all!"

Yura muffled her laugh. Naruto was indeed a very resolute and exuberant individual. He had practically wiped the room clear of uncertainty and his words reached the spirit of those around him, as shown by the unwavering faces when Ibiki attempted to goad them into submission. As admirable as his qualities were, displaying them so early wasn't necessary; there were still many other genin left in the exam.

She eyed Toya, Daiki and Junko. _But…thank you._

"Nice determination. Then…for the first test, everyone here…passes!"

There was a flurry of questions fired at Ibiki. He explained the purpose of the first nine questions – they were to fish out the 'weaklings' who didn't have the abilities to advance in rank. He then covered the expectations of a shinobi which included skilful information gathering skills, even if they had to cheat to get answers. It was then that the two chunin in the crowd of genin were revealed before he untied his bandana and displayed the burns, drill holes and other results of torture inflicted on his head.

"Information is everything," he said.

She zoned out while he finished his talk and glanced outside the window and did a double take. A dark rounded form was hurtling towards them. Could it be…? She was sure of it. Anko always did enjoy her dramatic entries, but she wondered which one this would be. Was it that, or that, or _that_,or…

_CRASH_

Glass shattered and shards splayed dangerously on the floor. Anko appeared in the middle of the mess, a large banner with writing behind her. Yura blinked. So it was _that_.

"Alright, you maggots, this is no time to be celebrating! I am the proctor of the second part of the exam, Mitarashi Anko! Now, follow me!" She punched the air but nobody responded. Her face fell.

"Grasp the atmosphere," Ibiki advised blandly.

Anko ignored him and did a quick scan of the room. "There are seventy-eight…? Ibiki, you left twenty-six teams?" Her brow twitched. "The test was too easy this time!"

"Or, we have an exceptionally good crop this year."

"Pfft, that's fine. I'll cut off at least half of them in the second test." Anko leered at the genin. "I'm feeling excited already…I'll explain everything once we've changed places. Follow me!"

Yura waved to her team as they left the room and sighed. Her options for using up her spare time were limited because most of it was spent going on missions or training with her students. The other jonin were probably training or relaxing. She huffed at her own restlessness and decided that paying Anko a visit was more appealing than training at the moment.

She bought a box of dango and two cups of sweet red bean broth. Exiting the store, she walked slowly in the direction of the forty-fourth training ground, not wanting to arrive before the genin entered the Forest of Death.

Suddenly she froze, because strolling towards her, less than fifteen metres away was Hatake. He appeared as blasé and handsome as the last time she saw him. Well, maybe he wasn't exactly as nonchalant during their last encounter– in fact, he had been rather intense, and…wait. She blinked. _Handsome?_ She had called that lazy, slouching, perverted jonin who made her feel weird _handsome? _

It was definitely not a good sign.

As she ducked into a random shop, she sulked at the fact that she had been reduced to hiding from somebody she'd have no problem with barely a week earlier. She stayed in there for a few good minutes before cautiously stepping out into the street and looking around for any signs of Hatake.

"Safe," she breathed.

"From what?" A very familiar voice asked from behind.

Her heart lurched in her chest and she spun around to see Hatake regarding her with a gleam in his eye she saw too often.

"N-Nothing!" She smiled nervously. "Where did you come from?"

Hatake pointed to the right. "That direction…though I suppose you'd know I'm lying, right?"

Yura shifted uneasily. Why was it that he always appeared to be in close proximity? Not only that, but he had witnessed her diving in a store she probably spent less than a second looking at. Panic coursed through her.

A distraction, however feeble, could save lives, which was why she was thrusting the white box in her hands at him.

"Look, it's dango! I bought the recent special that came in a set. Smells nice, doesn't it?"

Hatake paused to stare at the box. "Are you going to eat that all by yourself? …Actually, don't answer. I may get distracted easily, but not when I've got something in mind, Yura. My point is – you've been avoiding me." His eye sharpened. "And I want to know why."

_Shit, shit, shit, _shit. This was dangerous territory. Nothing good would stem from this conversation if it advanced, which was why she needed to find an escape, and _now. _

Mindlessly, she raised a hand and formed a seal, reappearing at the forty-fourth training ground. Her heart rate was still fast and her nerves shaky, but the change of scenery slowly calmed her until rationality kicked in.

She groaned at the realisation that she had fled from Hatake and did it _right in front of him. _Cursing her stupidity, she desperately hoped he wasn't one of those idiots who thought it was a female's invitation to play cat and mouse. But it was a game to him anyway, and she had basically asked him to chase her by acting like a prey.

That's how Anko found her – looking pitiful as she hugged the box of dango to her chest and let the aroma soothe her battered pride.

**... ... ...**

Kakashi blinked in surprise at the empty space in front of him. She had been there one second then gone the next. He laughed. _Body Flicker._

Although amused, he was disappointed that he hadn't received an answer. However, he did have some observations of his own, like how she seemed so wary and uncomfortable around him, how her behaviour wasn't the same when he was around and how she had taken to avoiding him two days ago after their little discussion in the bookstore. He also knew he affected her, but not how significantly.

He was genuinely interested in her and his interest had only soared after he realised she left him feeling warm when she scoffed at him and blushed red whenever he mentioned Icha Icha. He found himself liking her company, which was why he was slightly annoyed that he seemed to repel her.

He pocketed his novel, visible eye closing in a smile. No, he was serious about the woman, and if she was asking for him to hunt her down before interrogating her then so be it. After all, it's what the hero in Icha Icha Violence liked: a good game of pursuit.

**... ... ...**

"Hey, that's dango!"

Yura looked up at the sound of Anko's enthusiastic voice. "I'm not surprised you recognise it."

Anko blinked at the traces of sulkiness on her friend's face. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing," Yura lied. She just wasn't in the mood to think about her encounter with Hatake. She grimaced, there it was again.

"Well…alright. So," Anko looked at the box with starry eyes, "you gonna give me some?"

Yura smirked as she thought about refusing to give her any, but Anko would probably manage to nick one anyway.

"Sure, we can share."

Grinning, Anko threw the skewer at the tree to add to the Konoha symbol she was making and grabbed another stick of dango. "How do you think your team will do inside the forest of death?"

They were sitting on top of the roof of a resting area, discussing all that had happened during the Chunin Exam until that point.

"They'll be fine, I'm sure of it. Even if they were a bit reluctant during the first test, they have the skills to fight battles and the minds to endure tough times." Yura looked at Anko curiously. "Speaking of the written test, your entrance into the room…I've always wanted to know how you manage to come up with such dramatic appearances."

Anko beamed proudly. "Many hours of hard work, that's how. And for inspiration, I look to manga…or sometimes Gai. He's the one with the countless number of poses and all."

"Ah, I see."

Anko sipped at her red bean broth and perked up. "You know, there's nothing quite like having dango with red bean soup. Hey, I'll probably go to the tower after this and wait for the genin to arrive, if some haven't already. Come if you want." She speared another skewer into the tree. "There. Konoha mark complete. Nice isn't it?"

Yura tilted her head to look at the symbol from a different angle. "Very. Good aim, Anko."

"Heh."

_Poof. _"Big trouble, Anko-sama!"

"What is it?"

"Three dead bodies have been found!"

Anko chewed, gazing at the chunin dispassionately. "Bodies?"

"Yes, and they look strange. Please come!"

She and Yura glanced at each other with confusion and hopped on to the ground.

"Lead the way," Anko drawled.

There were other chunin at the scene. Sprawled in front of them were three Kusa-nin whose faces appeared to be missing. It was a strange sight; Yura had never seen such a thing before.

"After examining their papers and personal items, they seem to be Kusa ninja who were entered in this exam, but…" the chunin named Kotetsu explained, "as you can see…they have no faces. They're blank, as if melted off."

"Anko…" Yura trailed off, worried about the shocked expression she wore. Her hand was clapped over the left side of her neck, where Yura knew was her curse seal.

Anko blinked and whipped around to glare at one of the chunin. "Show me the pictures of these three!" She snatched the photographs from him and scrutinised them. She swore. "This is bad…You guys report this to Hokage-sama! Mobilise at least two ANBU squads to follow me. I'm heading into the forest of death right now!"

The chunin nodded and leapt towards the Hokage tower.

"Anko, I'll come with you," Yura said. Judging by the intense mixed emotions Anko had on display, now was definitely not the time to stay still. They would talk about the situation while running.

Anko nodded. "We need to be quick."


	5. Control

Constructive criticism and error point-outs are appreciated!

_May disregard some canon content. _

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

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**FIVE  
><strong>_**Control**_

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They had been leaping from branch to branch for at least twenty minutes. Those minutes were tense and wordless, their desperate search for someone or some_thing _making it difficult for them to start a conversation. Yura was hesitant to disturb Anko's pensive state, but the silence was suffocating and she needed to know what they were after.

"Anko."

Pupil-less brown eyes shot to her face, revealing an uncharacteristic expression that nudged at her brain. She strained to remember where and when, and then she was hit with realisation.

"Is it…him?"

Surprise flickered across Anko's face. "Yeah, it's him. How did you know?"

"I've only ever seen that look on you once before," Yura said slowly. "And that was when we were talking about your curse seal."

Anko smirked weakly. "I see."

It was quiet for the next minute or two before Anko's voice cut through the air.

"He's close."

Yura nodded, her heart picking up with anticipation. There was little she knew about the man she was about to meet; she only knew he was Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, Anko's teacher at one point and the one who had given her friend the curse seal. She steeled herself for whatever would happen next, hoping their attempt at eliminating Orochimaru would be successful.

She followed Anko as they hopped deeper into the forest. Anko suddenly stopped and threw an arm out.

"There he is," Anko said, eyes unwavering as they stared straight ahead. She lowered her arm.

Yura followed her gaze and blinked at the unusual sight of a man seemingly merged into the trunk of a tree. She eyed the tears at each of his eyes and the contrasting skin colours that were revealed. She a hand on the hilt of her sword, unsure what to expect.

"It's been a long time, Anko." His voice was cool and gravelly and reminded her of a snake's hiss. His eyes rolled to meet hers. "Oh? So you brought a friend? Well this should be fun."

Anko stepped towards him, brushing off his taunt. "You're listed in the bingo books as a S-rank criminal. That's why I'm going to kill you even if it costs me my life."

Yura watched both of them carefully and prepared herself to draw Aogari at a moment's notice.

"It's my job as your former subordinate, who learned everything from you, right Orochimaru?"

"It's useless," Orochimaru replied simply as his tongue extended out from his mouth and exploded towards Anko, who avoided the assault and skidded backwards.

Yura performed a few hand seals and was about to deliver her attack when she felt an alarming presence from behind. She ducked, feeling the air above her head whirl sharply and leapt away to observe her enemies.

Orochimaru and Anko were still engaged, the latter having just backed Orochimaru against a tree and in the middle of making an unfamiliar seal with their joined hands. A few metres from her was a giant green snake with eyes that gleamed viciously. It was either a technique or a summon, and Yura wondered when Orochimaru had executed either without she or Anko noticing.

_Unless…_

Her head whipped towards Anko to see who she presumed to be the real Orochimaru standing behind Anko. Her momentary inattention was enough for her to be slammed against the thick trunk of a tree. She winced at the pain of collision and swore, getting to her feet. She drew Aogari, the silver metal of the blade glinting, and dashed towards the snake to deliver a swipe.

The giant thing somehow managed to dodge some of her attacks; it was capable of much more speed than its appearance gave it credit for. Yura abandoned further use of Aogari and formed a hand seal, concentrating on channelling chakra to her chakra points. Sweat dripped down her temples as she then focused on transforming the nature of her chakra, sensing the snake within close range – and then _finally, _her fingers raced to finish the series of seals.

Wind exploded outward from her body, severing branches and rustling foliage. The snake reared its head back, trying to escape from the sharp assault. At the opening, Yura flicked her sword out of its sheathe and released the seal on the blade, faint blue engulfing its length. She pushed off a tree for momentum and swung at an arc at the snake.

Yura landed a ways from the unmoving body of the creature, the harsh wind dying down. She panted heavily, the wind technique having taken a lot out of her. She twisted her neck around to confirm the snake's death by sight, and then leapt in the direction of Anko's chakra signature, body protesting at the strain of movement.

She found Anko at a location different from where her battle with Orochimaru took place. Anko looked up at the sound of her footsteps, midway through bandaging one of her hands.

"You're okay?"

Yura sighed in relief at Anko's nod.

"The bastard got away though. It's urgent that we inform the Hokage about this. I have a feeling Konoha is in for a difficult time with somebody like him setting his sights on this village. If there should be a…need…" Anko trailed off as she eyed something over Yura's shoulder.

Yura watched, puzzled, as Anko's eyes narrowed and she took a few steps towards a bush. However, when she looked in the same direction, she could understand Anko's alarm.

One by one, feral cats emerged from the shadows to surround both of them. Yura heard Anko swear and it reminded her that neither of them would be capable of fighting much longer. She tensed, meeting the yellow-gold eyes of the animals warily.

And then she heard Anko groan and fall to her knees and the growl of one of the tigers.

"Anko!"

Yura grit her teeth, not chancing a sideway look, knowing how that would translate to the animals in front of her. She felt their hopes of getting out of the situation dip a little when Anko didn't reply. Weakened as she and Anko were, she saw no other option than to defend. Ignoring the soreness of the muscles in her arms, she brought her hands together to form a seal. Just as she was about to launch into a technique, the tiger standing closest to them tipped over on its side.

"There you are, Anko, Yura-san," a male voice said.

The voice belonged to one of the two Anbu who were perched on a branch a few metres away. She sighed in relief at their arrival and surveyed the paralysed bodies of the tigers. Anko appeared to have recovered from whatever it was that she had been caught in a moment ago, leaving only a slight sheen of sweat as a hint of what she had endured.

The Anbu reappeared on the rock slabs on either side of her and Anko.

Anko scowled up at them. "You're Anbu members, yet you arrived extremely late."

"Don't say that," one of them drawled.

Suddenly, Anko crumpled to the floor, groaning and a hand slapped over her curse seal.

"Are you okay? Hey!" The Anbu member's voice became alarmed. "That's…"

Yura looked at the Anbu anxiously. "I don't know what Orochimaru did to her, but she needs medical attention right now."

"So, it's true then…"

"We're going to take you to Hokage-sama," the other Anbu said.

"No," Anko spat out, "to the tower."

"What are you talking about? Whenever Orochimaru is seen here, a maximum security order is supposed to be put into place."

"I understand. Yura and I will give details once we have arrived, so please ask the Hokage to come along as well."

Yura narrowed her eyes at Anko. "What about your–"

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about it," Anko cut in firmly.

The tower in the middle of the forest was gloomy and relatively bare. Yura, Anko and the two Anbu were in one of the smaller and more furnished rooms with a television set, discussing the encounter with Orochimaru. Anko was in mid-sentence when the door slid open.

"Excuse me," said a tall chunin.

Anko glared at him. "What is it? We're in the middle of an important conversation here."

The chunin flinched. "My apologies," he held up a tape in one hand, "but please look at this!"

He slid it into the DVD player and rewound the tape. "Notice the time and watch what happens."

The fuzzy screen cleared to show Gaara and his siblings in the tower. Yura blinked. Like the chunin suggested, the abnormal thing about it was the time.

_One hour, thirty-seven minutes and sixteen seconds._

She sat there, stunned that a team had managed to arrive so soon. She had heard that the second phase of the Chunin Exam was designed to test the genin's survival and endurance skills. Adding Anko and her sadistic streak into the mix and even still managing to finish the test at that time was…

"…they broke the old record by four hours."

Yura tensed. Had Gaara really gotten so strong since years ago? She stared at the green eyes that stared back from his still figure on the monitor.

"_If that's so, I want you to watch me. I want to show you how much stronger I have become," Gaara's eyes narrowed, "…without the need for friendship or love."_

Was he trying to make his point?

"Yura?"

"Yeah?" She turned to face Anko, only to realise the spot beside her was empty. Sweatdropping, she swivelled around to see Anko standing by the window with the two Anbu.

Anko sighed in exasperated amusement. "You've been out of it for the last five minutes. Go home and get some rest; as the proctor, I'll handle the rest of the situation with the Hokage."

Yura nodded tiredly and stood. She raised a hand and mumbled a farewell before zipping out the open door, enticed by the idea of a hot shower and a few extra hours of sleep. _And no Anko to suddenly hop in through the window_, she thought, recalling the memory with a grimace.

* * *

><p>Thinking about Hatake in the morning was definitely not part of her usual routine. She always knew the time it took for her to brush her teeth allowed too much wandering of her mind. And today, it had decided it wanted to focus on Hatake, so here she was, a hand on the door knob of her apartment, mentally repeating to herself that she would no longer allow the man to affect her so much that she'd turn tail and run – after all, there was grocery shopping to do, and she would only be cranky if she didn't have any food.<p>

Last night, she had come to the painful realisation that she was attracted to him. The funny things going on in her stomach? Attraction. She then spent the next hour panicking and in a reclusive state of mind before she finally pulled her act together and slapped herself for behaving like a pubescent child.

She twisted the door knob and stepped outside, locking it behind her. She didn't recall descending the flight of stairs or dodging the afternoon market crowd even when she found herself in an area further down, where the mass of people had thinned.

While the idea of falling in love was synonymised with 'magical' and 'otherworldly', Yura disdained and secretly feared anything that would carry her even remotely close to it. She was content by herself, she had lasted twenty-one years without falling in love, and so there was no reason why she shouldn't be able keep on doing so.

Then there was her difficulty in understanding the appeal of allowing another person control over your feelings. Why love if it made you vulnerable?

Yura's mind whirred around in a cycle, asking questions and receiving no answers. When a person was in this state of thoughtfulness, naturally, they wouldn't be very welcoming towards an interfering external force. But there _was _one. And that was Hatake Kakashi, staring her dead in the eye, standing less than five metres away.

She swore. He had such brilliant timing in annoying her without having said anything.

"Let's talk somewhere else," he said in that voice she dreaded.

Then she felt a dizzying sensation and found her back pressed against an alleyway wall, and Hatake looming over her from a short distance.

She glared up at him, indignant at the amount of space between them. "Hatake, I can't breathe."

Hatake blinked. "You're breathing fine."

Yura gestured between their bodies. "I meant _this._"

"Ah, I see." He then had the gall to take a step closer. _Closer. _What on earth?

Alarmed, she tried to flatten herself against the wall, hoping to put more space between them.

He chuckled warmly. "I won't let you get away this time, not when you've finally stopped trying to run from me."

She stared at him, unable to keep from wondering if he was a mind reader. "W-What?"

"I mean that I enjoy your company," he replied.

Anger slowly began to build up inside her. He was treating the statement as if it was just a casual thing to say, which it would have been had she not known what that terrible fluttery feeling in her stomach meant. Yet, he was either unaware of her turmoil or playing her for a fool, and she was positive it was the latter. She inhaled deeply and the fiery anger died down to a cool burning. She would not be used, would _not_ be viewed as an entertaining past time.

"You're an idiot," she bit out. "I don't like being around you."

Hatake didn't seem to take offense to the statement. "It's true. I'm an idiot."

She winced inwardly but ploughed on. "You're irritating, silly, and completely uninteresting. Talking to you is like talking to a wall."

He shrugged. "We all have our negative traits."

She crossed her arms and eyed him testily. "Not to mention, your hair is at an odd angle."

"So I've been told."

Yura clenched her teeth, frustrated beyond belief. How he was withstanding her verbal abuse and not seeming deterred at all was a mystery. She swallowed at the unfamiliar expression he wore. "Aren't you angry? Stop looking at me like that, it's weird."

Another throaty laugh. "No, I'm not angry."

She gave him a hypothetical kick to the shins. "Why not?"

"Your eyes don't agree with what you say, and the eyes are the supposed windows to the soul."

Yura couldn't help but scoff at the ridiculous saying. "That's got to be one of the corniest things ever." She shook her head at his eye smile. "Well, since I was apparently lying, I won't apologise for the things I said."

"That's fine," Hatake said easily, but as she imagined him to be hiding his hurt behind an aloof façade, guilt flooded her, and she sighed, acknowledging that it wouldn't leave until she did something about it.

"But I'm sorry anyway."

Hatake tilted his head. "That's fine too."

They regarded each other silently for the next few moments. Yura was more confused than ever; how did she change from being angry to guilty in less than a minute? Hatake probably had some special power that made people doubt their sanity. She blinked. _Oh, right. The Sharingan. _

"Join me for lunch."

She leaned closer towards him unconsciously, wondering if she heard correctly. "Sorry, what?"

"I said do you want to join me, Asuma and Kurenai for lunch?"

Yura could only stare for a few seconds, stumped by the sudden offer. "What - even though I said...?"

"Aa. It's what friends do, right?"

"…Right." _Friends? _Could it be that he was actually oblivious to how he affected her? "Maybe I should go home and get cleaned up first. I look like I just rolled out of bed." _And maybe I shouldn't go at all._

Hatake lazily perused her form before meeting her eyes again. "You look fine."

She resisted the urge to cover her burning cheeks, it would only serve to amuse the man some more. Flustered and with a strange warmth settled over her chest, she squeezed past Hatake without looking at him and hurriedly strode out of the alleyway in a random direction. "Let's go already."

A hand grasped one of hers and tugged her in the opposite path. "You're going the wrong way."

She stumbled slightly and glared at the back of Hatake's head, sticking her tongue out childishly. The slight swinging of their connected limbs drew her attention, and she spent the next half-minute staring at their hands with wide eyes, unprepared for the sudden resounding volume of her heartbeat in her ears.


	6. That Stupid Smile

Sorry about the late chapter. School work and other things going on had sucked the motivation out of me. But now that this is up – enjoy!

_May disregard some canon content. _

**Disclaimer:** Naruto isn't mine.

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**SIX  
><strong>_**That Stupid Smile**_

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The café smelled strongly of tasty goods and coffee, Yura noted as she looked around curiously. It was a small but cozy building that suited friendly and companionable outings. The seating arrangement was so that she sat next to Hatake, while Asuma and Kurenai were opposite them. Upon entering the café, they had found them already seated with their orders, and Hatake had said: "Eh, you guys didn't wait? How rude," to which Asuma had replied with, "Get over yourself, smartass."

Personally, she wasn't very well acquainted with Asuma and only called him by his first name because she already referred to the Hokage as Sarutobi. Kurenai, however, she considered a friend. The older woman was easy to get along with and they had been introduced to each other by Anko. They were close enough for Yura to interrogate her friend – something she fully intended to take advantage of, and judging by the wary glance Kurenai shot her, she knew it too.

"So…" Asuma drawled, "is this a double date or something?"

Two heads whipped around to stare at him incredulously.

"Asuma!"

"Definitely not!"

Yura and Kurenai looked at each other in surprise and shared a sheepish smile.

"Women," Hatake sighed in mock exasperation.

Yura met his visible eye curiously and quickly hid her face from him when she felt it heat up. She busied herself with smoothing over the wrinkles on the material of her outfit, the feel of his warm hand covering hers still fresh.

Asuma surveyed both of them with a thoughtful gleam in his eye. "I'm going out a bit for a smoke. Wanna join, Kakashi?"

"I don't smoke," Hatake deadpanned. "But I'll come for the fresh air."

Yura sat stock-still, aware of every move he made, aware of the scrape of his chair as it slid back and how the material of his sleeve brushed the back of her neck as he passed her. She was sure it was intentional and made to twist her neck to deliver a glare, when she realised the opportunity that was laid out in front of her. She made herself comfortable, smirking at Kurenai, who narrowed her crimson eyes distrustfully.

"You and Asuma-san, huh? How long have you been seeing each other?"

Pink tinged Kurenai's cheeks. "Not long actually. Only for two or three months."

Yura propped her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand. "But you're already infatuated."

Kurenai looked at her with wide eyes. "I…"

"It's written all over your face," Yura explained, laughing as Kurenai failed horribly to simultaneously hide her blush and scowl at her. "So, have you kissed?"

Kurenai twitched. "Yura!"

Yura raised her hands in defence, grinning impishly. "Did you see the look on your face? How cute," she teased.

"I'm meant to be the one saying that," Kurenai remarked dryly. "The older one, remember? And what about you and Kakashi?"

"There's nothing going on between us." Yura frowned, not liking the sudden attention shift.

Kurenai raised a brow sceptically. "I never said there was. But anyway, the tension between you two certainly doesn't look like nothing."

They engaged in a staring contest that was cut short when Yura's shoulders slumped in conceded defeat. She eyed the slice of carrot cake thoughtfully. Did it have the potential to be a stress reliever? Shrugging, she pointed at it. "Are you going to eat that?"

Kurenai blinked and looked down at her order with distaste. "Probably not. I never did like cake, and I only got this to get Asuma to stop pestering me. Do you want it?" She slid the plate over to Yura at her nod and watched with confusion as she stabbed the cake with a fork.

Yura vaguely noted how the fork pierced the cake easily as she continued the assault. Finally, when she felt most of her anxiety crumble away with the cake, she placed her fork down and sighed. "I don't know how to start. Ask me a question."

"How did you meet?"

"I was training, and then he just…suddenly appeared."

Kurenai frowned. "Just like that?"

"Yeah. I thought it was weird as well, but I suppose many things are like that."

Kurenai huffed and tapped a finger to her chin. "Then, what about how you feel about him?"

"He's…a friend, I think."

"'I think'?" Kurenai echoed, raising an inquiring brow.

Yura snatched up her fork and began to stab the cake again, missing Kurenai's wince. "At the beginning I didn't know him well, and only thought of him as a fellow shinobi. Then we met about two weeks ago, and since then he's been popping up everywhere, it's annoying. Overall, he's annoying. But…earlier today, before we met with you and Asuma here," she waved her fork haphazardly in the air, "he implied that we're _friends_."

"So? Nothing wrong there." Kurenai's eyes widened after a few seconds and she leaned in with a devious smile. "Could it be that you want to be more than friends?"

Yura stared at her friend with a mixture of horror and betrayal. "Of course not! I barely know him and he barely knows me! My point is that between our first meeting and _now, _Hatake has been acting strange – strange as in the touchy-feely, invasive _strange, _and then he suddenly decides to be friends," she glared at the table top. "He's the most frustrating person I've ever met."

Kurenai laughed. "I've known Kakashi for a long time and I've never heard him act that way before. Typically, people act like that when…" she trailed off, eyeing Yura with a sudden sharp intelligence not unlike her. "I see, so that's what it is."

Yura frowned at her. "What's the matter, Kurenai?"

"Nothing," Kurenai replied, turning her head to hide the corner of her mouth twitching upwards, pretending not to notice the other woman's suspicion.

* * *

><p>Light grey smoke misted off into the air, accompanying the two men on the roof of the café. It was another one of those sunny days Konoha seemed to have an abundance of. Kakashi leant against the railing, his back feeling the heat of the sun's rays, and watched as Asuma released another puff.<p>

"Something on your mind?"

Asuma didn't seem like he was bothered by anything serious judging by the very fact that he was still smoking.

"Just wondering what's going on between you and Amori."

Kakashi tutted. "Why the interest? I thought you didn't like to get involved unless it was necessary."

Asuma paused to give Kakashi a dull look. "You think you're funny, don't you? It's just a question, so answer it already."

Kakashi's eye crinkled in mirth. "I'll have you know I've always been a rather good comedian. As for Yura, I find her…interesting."

He knew he was being more than vague. 'Interesting' could mean a lot of things after all. But it was the perfect word to describe her, especially since he wasn't sure_ what_ it was he felt.

"What's this?" Asuma said with a smirk, eyeing Kakashi suggestively. "You're already on first name basis? Either she's too easy, or you're a major closet womaniser."

Kakashi rolled his eye skyward. "That's right; my powers of womanising are so prominent that wherever I go, women are left hot and bothered." He laughed as Asuma scoffed at him and mumbled something incoherent under his breath. "I wouldn't say she's easy. For one, she insists on calling me by my surname, but I'll fix that soon enough."

Asuma pulled the cigarette from his mouth, exhaling another swirl of smoke. "Someone's confident."

Kakashi chose not to reply to the statement and instead whipped out his Icha Icha novel. "So how are things with Kurenai? Is there a wedding I can be the best man for?"

Asuma blanched and fumbled with the lighter in his hand. "It's a bit too soon for a wedding, Kakashi. Though…"

Kakashi looked up from his book and blinked at the faraway look in Asuma's eyes. He was considering continuing where he left off when brown eyes regained focus and locked with his. It was the abrupt certainty in them coupled with Asuma's mouth deprived of a cancer stick that caught his full attention.

"I think I'm in love."

He stared and Asuma stared back.

"Are you sure?" Kakashi couldn't conceal the surprise that coloured his tone. "It's only been a few months."

Asuma confirmed it with a nod. "It has, but my gut is telling me Kurenai's the one."

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. "I'm glad for you, though I admit it's a bit strange hearing you talk like a woman."

"Shut up," Asuma drawled with a grimace. "Damn sentimentality."

* * *

><p>Yura was starting to find herself reluctantly more relaxed around Hatake after their parting with Asuma and Kurenai. She supposed it was her accepting that he wanted nothing more or less than a friendship. The thought was bothersome and it irritated her to no end that she hadn't refused point blank. She glanced at him and quickly averted her gaze before he caught her. Then again, it probably wouldn't have mattered either way. He really <em>was <em>everywhere.

"Remind me why you're following me."

Hatake fixed his smiling eye on her. "I'd follow you to the ends of the earth." At her blank expression, he rephrased. "I'm bored."

She valiantly refrained from showing her amusement, oblivious to the calculating look that flashed across Hatake's face. "I'm going to get some groceries."

He raised his brow at her. "Why didn't you do that earlier today? There are always fewer customers in the morning."

"I know," she sighed, giving him a pointed look. "But I woke up late and then our…reunion took place."

Hatake blinked as if just remembering. "Ah, yes."

By the time she had picked up a basket and was scouring the dairy section, Hatake had disappeared and she was left in peace. She picked up a circle of cheese to examine it closely before tossing it in her basket. '_He's probably wondering if there's a section for books.'_

A hand suddenly clapped down on her shoulder and she jumped, swinging around to deliver an instinctual punch that she wouldn't regret if it was a pervert and – oh god, was that _Hatake_? Yes, it was, and he was holding a big watermelon slice over the lower portion of his face, his visible eye smiling along. She stared incredulously. '_What…the hell?'_

"Do you like my new face? Here, I'll come closer so you can admire me better."

And then he slunk forward with that idiotic looking watermelon grin still in place and she couldn't take it anymore. She bent over and laughed loudly, the basket in her hand clattering to the floor and the contents spilling out as it tipped over. Clutching at Hatake for support, she was oblivious to everything else apart from the hilarity of what she had seen.

"S-Suika Kakashi," she gasped before bursting into another round of laughter. As soon as she had calmed down enough to realise _who _she was holding on to and _where _she was, the situation didn't seem as funny anymore. She released her grip on his sleeve and stumbled back, flushing brightly. "Sorry."

Kakashi tilted his head and considered the woman in front of him. He liked her laugh; it was loud and sincere, unlike the careful, fake giggles some females possessed. Triumph surged through him. She hadn't been able to contain herself this time. Not to mention…she had used his name, not his family name. A strange warmth spread through him, and he prodded at it. Peculiar, he decided, but not at all bad.

When Hatake didn't reply, she looked up curiously and almost took another step back at the intensity of his stare.

"You called me Kakashi." There was no mistaking the warmth in his eye.

Yura quickly shook her head, feeling the jittery after effect of her short-lived euphoria. "No, I didn't."

"You did."

"Didn't."

"Did."

She narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to reply, when she found her hand enclosed around the handles of her basket again. She managed a sheepish look. "Thanks."

Hatake merely stared at her before bending down to place the watermelon slice in her basket. "Next time, don't hide what you're feeling." He pointed a finger to the left. "I'll be in that aisle if you need me." He turned and slouched off, his nose buried in his book again.

She blinked at his back dubiously. '_What's up with him?'_

* * *

><p>"Ice cream?" She echoed, shifting the weight of her shopping bags.<p>

Hatake's eye crinkled. "Are you hard of hearing?"

Yura twitched at the jab. "No, but still, ice cream? I never saw you as the type to go for that."

"Now you're just being judgmental," Hatake replied with mock hurt. "Let's go to the park a few streets down. There's always an ice cream vendor there."

Yura wondered when she had agreed to come along. Oh, right, she hadn't.

"Actually, I think I'll pass on the ice cream. It's nothing personal."

The amused look he gave her indicated he saw through her lie.

"It'll be my treat," Hatake offered, voice, she was sure, deliberately smooth.

She scowled, insulted that he thought bribery would tempt her. Did she look like some stingy, money-hungry person to him?

"I'm capable of buying my own, Hatake. So, where is this park?"

He shot her a look of triumph. "Just follow me," he answered vaguely.

Yura blinked the sunlight out of her eyes, surveying the large open space. Hatake had led them to a grassy, green field dotted with rustic benches. There were few others there, most of them being couples. Feeling awkward, she contemplated the possibility of escaping with an excuse such as weeding her garden.

"Over there."

Yura followed Hatake's gaze to a woman standing behind an ice cream cart. Resigned to spending more time with Hatake, she trudged after him, deciding on the flavour of her ice cream.

They sat on one of the benches. Yura licked warily, extremely uncomfortable with Hatake next to her, within reaching distance. It was different from lunch, because Asuma and Kurenai kept the awkwardness at bay.

Her eyes widened as a revelation occurred. But, if Hatake was eating, then wouldn't his mask…? She whipped her head around to stare at him, however…

"You're finished?" She said disbelievingly, looking from his empty hand to his face and back again.

He eyed her with confusion. "Yes. Is there a problem?"

She squinted at him for a few seconds, and only then did she notice the streak of chocolate cream on the side of his face.

"You've got some ice cream here." She gestured to the area near his ear.

Hatake raised a hand and unsuccessfully wiped at his skin. He raised a brow at her, as if suggesting that she was pulling something on him. She glared at the offending chocolate and unthinkingly leaned in and used a finger to wipe it away. She couldn't help noticing the smoothness of his cheek as she retreated and stared at it with a strange expression.

Kakashi stilled at the sudden contact and found himself pleasantly surprised. It was unexpected that it she would initiate contact this early on, but he wasn't going to complain. He flicked his eye to hers and wondered if her fingers tingled like his cheek did. Or whether she got that odd feeling around him as he did around her. Even if she didn't immediately reciprocate, he would make sure the outcome reflected what he had in mind.

During the course of the day, he had seen various sides of her previously unknown to him during the time when his duty was to keep watch on her under the instruction of the Hokage, for reasons he didn't know of. He was pleased how 'rediscovering' her was turning out positively; the more he learnt, the more the wanted to know. It was a dangerous feeling, one he recognised, and it left him guessing how things between both of them would be like at the end.

He had made contact, gotten her attention and learnt more about her. Now all that was left was winning her over.

Her heart hammered, and she desperately hoped he wouldn't be able to hear it, else she would never live her embarrassment down.

_Friends. _That's right, they were only friends, even if the annoying fluttering in her chest persisted.

"Don't you know anything about personal space?"

Yura spluttered and finally settled on gaping at him. Compared to the number of times _he _breached a socially acceptable distance, _she _should be the one saying that.

"Just kidding," Hatake said lightly.

Though he was turning out to be more irritating than anything.

She grunted and devoured the last of her cone. Rising to her feet with shopping bags in her hands again, she awkwardly gestured in the direction of her apartment. "It's been a good day," '_half a good day', _"but I'm tired, so I'll be going home now. See you tomorrow." She pivoted and started taking long strides away from that bench, away from _him_, and sighed as relief flooded her. Any longer and she might have tried to knock him out to escape, and god knows how that would've turned out.

It took longer than usual, but she eventually noticed another pair of footsteps had joined hers, and looked up to her side in alarm. She stopped mid-step to give Hatake a heated glare. "What are you doing?"

"I'm walking you there." He appeared unaffected by her effort to glare a hole through his skull; his tone even suggested that he was amused.

She inhaled deeply, mourning how her irritation had drained away as weariness settled in. "This isn't a date, you know, so it's not necessary."

"It isn't?" he said with suspiciously curious wide eyes.

She raised a brow in question. "What?"

He flashed his trademark eye-smile. "Nevertheless, I insist. So, are we going to keep walking?"

'We'. _'We'. _Yura sighed, too tired to argue or try to understand him. "Whatever," she grumbled.

The keys jingled as she stuck one of them in the lock. She cursed and tried to push the key in further, but it refused to budge. She pulled it out and stared at the keys, trying to remember which one belonged to the front door. She pushed a silver one into the lock, resigned to a series of trial and error.

"Yura."

She jumped and twisted around to look at Hatake with surprise. He had been easily forgotten during her search. "What is it?"

"I just want to make it clear," he drifted forward to gently pry her fingers from around the key and pulled it out, sticking a gold one in that gave a quiet _click_, "that I'm interested in you." He left the key hanging in the lock, shoving his hand in his pocket.

Yura looked at him then at the keys. '_How did he…?' _But the curiosity she felt couldn't compare to the complete seriousness she saw in his eye. And it baffled her. "What do you mean?"

Hatake shifted closer to her until she had to crane her neck up to look at him. "You stumble over your words a lot when nervous, draw in the air when you're trying to remember something, and are paranoid about the littlest things. You visit _Atsuha's Bento_ as often as possible where you frequently order the special and have a strange liking for explosive tags." His expression softened slightly. "Do you understand now?"

Yura slowly took a step back, eyeing him with growing distrust. "No, I don't. You expect me to believe that you had learnt that much since we met – what? A week ago? Don't take me for a fool."

She appeared behind him, a finger to a pressure point at his neck. "How do you know so much?"

Hatake turned his head to gaze at her with surprise. "You're quite fast as well, though I don't advise you to attack a fellow Konoha shinobi."

"I haven't attacked anyone." Chakra flared from her fingertip. "Answer the question."

"As you wish," he said, though she was unsure whether he was making fun of her or not. "Do you remember anything out of place during your first week at Konoha?"

Yura narrowed her eyes at the strange question. "No, that was a year ago anyway. What's that got to do with anything?"

Hatake chuckled. "So I'm correct when I assume I've done a good job. The Hokage called me in shortly after your arrival and gave me instructions to follow you around during that time."

_One week. _Yura blinked.

She didn't want to admit it, but one week was enough to become familiar with a stranger just by observing. "I…see. That makes sense." She released her grip on him and lowered her hand by his neck. "You have very good memory," she grudgingly added. She just hoped she wasn't stroking his ego.

He turned to face her and watched her with a sort of contemplative expression. "Only when there's something that deserves it. You don't seem angry," he noted with a tinge of surprise.

She shrugged helplessly. "I suppose. It's because I understand where Sarutobi's coming from."

Hatake raised a brow but didn't ask.

"Go out with me."

Yura stared at him dubiously, asking herself why she bothered waking up this morning, and whether she really _did _wake up yet and if she was just dreaming an odd dream. "Come again?"

"Go out with me," he repeated, amused.

She stared at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. "What – _why?_"

He sighed and reached out to grab her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Yura, weren't you listening to me before? I meant it when I said I found you interesting. I even took some advice from Icha Icha and dropped you some 'hints' throughout the times we've spoken. Does a man need to suffer any more than he has to just to ask a lady out?

'_Some advice…from Icha Icha?' _Yura pushed the disturbing thought from her mind and frowned up at Hatake, disregarding how he could feel the tense line of her shoulders. "But…you were fooling around this whole time."

She didn't want to believe it meant anything more to Hatake than filling up some free time. It was just a lot less complicated that way.

"I admit I may have given off that, er, vibe," Hatake said rather sheepishly. "But no. I've been serious all along."

Yura stared blankly, unsure what to think, how to feel. But she knew she had sorely underestimated the man in front of her.

He raised a hand and, appearing to consider something, grazed a thumb along her cheek. "You're tired, I should leave."

Yura caught his hand in hers. "Hatake, wait–"

"Think about it, alright? And," he leant in to give her a startlingly cheery eye-smile, "call me Kakashi."

Yura followed his tall figure and spiky silver hair as he stepped around her and descended the flight of stairs, his echoing footsteps reflecting the pounding of her chest. It was silent again and she suddenly felt too alone and small and far too accustomed to his presence. She ran a hand through her hair, exhausted. It was as if life had been sucked out of her.

She wondered how she had managed to feel so strongly about her strict friendship with Hatake despite her growing attraction. No longer was it possible to force that feeling back; she would just need to draw strength from it to resist him for as long as she could. It would be torture, though, thinking about the 'what-ifs' about the one thing she was denying herself.

Only a masochist, she mused, would keep trying, because she refused to give in to these feelings – but whenever he looked at her and smiled that infuriatingly lax smile, her will would begin to crumble. And that's why giving in would be easier.

Yes, damage control was already looking bleak.


	7. A Matter of Time

How many weeks has it been? School's been demanding, so I'm sorry for the extremely late update. I thought it wouldn't make sense to write half-heartedly while assignments were up to my shoulders. But now it's the school holidays so I'll be updating more frequently. Concerning the matches in this chapter, it's my amateur attempt at somehow fitting in Yura's students. (Mistake point-outs are always appreciated!)

Anyway, I hope you've all had a brilliant Easter! :)

_May disregard some canon content. _

**Disclaimer:** Naruto is doing well without my ownership.

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**SEVEN  
><strong>_**A Matter of Time**_

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**.**

They were gathered in a room, the instructors of the rookie nine and a few other jonin, after message of the completion of the second phase of the Chunin Exam was given. Yura looked around to count the number of foreign faces and waved at Anko as their eyes met.

Sarutobi and a collection of chunin with a young man sporting a scar across his nose stood in front of them.

"I am glad to inform you that your teams have made it through to the third test."

Yura's shoulders slumped as she sighed in relief.

"However, before we proceed, we have come to the decision of holding a preliminary due to the unusually large amount of contestants remaining," Sarutobi continued, his aged voice possessing an unexpected strength in silence.

Scattered murmurs of surprise weaved throughout the room. Apparently preliminaries weren't common, Yura noted, listening as the Hokage continued further explanations. Once the talking was over with, the jonin followed the Hokage and the few chunin as they were lead further down the tower and into a large room where the group of genin who had passed on to the third round were already assembled.

Her eyes immediately sought out Junko, Daiki and Toya and she was grateful of the results a quick scan brought her. A low yawn in her ears made her look up and at an all too familiar face. _'Of course _his_ team would also make it through.' _She didn't look in his direction again, hoping it would increase her chances of not being noticed.

"Your team isn't too bad. Maybe they were lucky. But as long as my team is around, yours is done for, since it's about real ability from here. When it comes to youth, there are always the sweet times and the bitter times, eh Kakashi?" Gai's confident voice came from next to her. He was the only barrier between the two of them, and his competitive nature when it came to Hatake would always want to draw the man's attention, and so she wanted nothing more than to slap a hand over his mouth.

"Hm? You say something?" She scrunched her nose at Hatake's nonchalant tone and told herself she didn't find it funny.

Next to her, Kurenai laughed and patted her arm. "So much for keeping a low profile. He's spotted you."

She stuck her tongue out at Kurenai and resolved to keep staring ahead. He probably thought she had to focus her attention on him just because he was looking at her. She scoffed. _As if. _Her eyes shot to his and narrowed at contact. Between them, Gai was still moping and mouthing to himself, but at the moment her attention was focused on the way Hatake regarded her with a sort of calm confidence.

He looked at her for a while longer before averting his gaze as Anko drew attention.

"Hokage-sama will now explain the third test, so listen carefully. Now, Hokage-sama, please."

Sarutobi coughed. "Right. Congratulations to you who have made it through to the third test. However, before I explain what is next, there is something I'd like you to know…"

Yura zoned out on his repetition of what he had said in the meeting room earlier. She couldn't help being concerned about her students. There was confidence in their skills, but if any of them had Gaara as their opponent, then she would do whatever it took to stop them from participating if it meant the different between life and death. No, she hadn't missed it, that look of bloodlust in eyes that had once been completely innocent.

"…This is a life risking battle that has your dreams and country's prestige on the line."

Her eyes locked with swirling brown, and she raised a brow at Junko who flashed a small transparent smile. Junko broke eye contact and stared elsewhere, clearly troubled. Next to her, Daiki and Toya were sending her glances out of the corner of their eyes. Daiki opened his mouth to say something to her, to which she shook her head at with the same smile. Yura waited to see if Junko would make contact again, but she didn't.

"I'm going to quit," a silver-haired genin said sheepishly, raising his hand.

Hayate blinked in surprise and scanned the notes in his hand. "Alright. Well, you're Yakushi Kabuto-kun from Konoha, correct? You may leave now."

Kabuto acknowledged the dismissal with a cheerful wave as he turned to leave. That was, until Naruto opened his mouth to demand answers.

"I've seen that guy," Anko voiced thoughtfully, scrolling through her documents, "Yakushi Kabuto…he's failed seven times."

Sarutobi eyed Anko's clipboard strangely. "What kind of record is that?"

Junko had a hand covering her eyes and Yura was struck with worry. She seldom got headaches unless something serious was at hand, and to be having one at this moment, right when she could be the first competitor…

"Hey, girl wearing green and blue, you alright?"

Junko looked up almost shyly, removing her hand from her face and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Continue please."

"O-kay." Anko glanced over her shoulder at Yura and nodded. Yura smiled in thanks, grateful Anko was observant as she was.

Even after Kabuto left, there still seemed to be a sort of commotion within the group of genin, or rather, Ka–_Hatake_'s team. Yura glared at Sasuke's hand which was slapped over his cursed seal, remembering what Anko had relayed from her encounter with Orochimaru.

The Hokage stared ahead solemnly. "I thought so…"

"What should we do?" said a Suna jonin.

"We should remove him from the exam and have the Anbu watch over him," Anko volunteered.

"He isn't the type to easily agree to that," Hatake said, a faint underlying smugness in his tone, "after all, he's from the Uchiha clan."

Yura leant forward and rolled her eyes to look at him. "Regardless of clan heritage, too much pride is dangerous." '_Trust me, I would know.' _"It could be his pride that kills him."

Hatake tilted his head in her direction and replied amusedly, "Plausible, but some people just can't help it."

She blinked at the unexpected response he gave her and silently straightened back into line, ignoring how Gai flicked his eyes between them curiously.

Anko scoffed. "Too much pride _is _dangerous, and it would be foolish to think otherwise, which is why we should force him to quit. Just by releasing chakra, the curse becomes active and forcibly pulls out chakra. If that's not enough of a reason to get the Uchiha to withdraw, then clearly there's something amiss." She whipped her head around to Sarutobi. "Hokage-sama?"

"I still haven't forgotten Orochimaru's words, but let's allow the Uchiha to remain and see where this progresses. If the curse starts to release energy again, jump in and stop the fight," Sarutobi said, his voice tired and old.

"Yes," the jonin chorused.

"Um, now let's begin the preliminary. This preliminary will consist of one on one fighting. You will basically fight as if in a real life confrontation. There is an odd number of you, twenty-three, so there will be twelve matches. One of you will have the chance to fight the winner of a selected match. However, to make it fair to the winner, the both of you won't be able to fight until fully recovered. Moving on, all winners will then advance to the third test.

"There aren't any set rules for this preliminary. The fight continues until one of the opponents dies, falls unconscious or surrenders. If you don't want to die then it's in your best interest to give up quickly, but once I decide a victor has clearly been established, I will intervene. The thing that controls your match is…" Hayate looked over to Anko, who spoke into her microphone.

An electric scoreboard slowly revealed itself to be built into the wall behind the jonin.

"This thing will display each of your matches. It is a bit sudden, but how about we get on with the first match of the day?"

The genin watched the scoreboard with expressions of wariness and anticipation. The scoreboard flashed through a yellow jumble of names and syllables until it came to a halt.

_Akado Yoroi vs. Uchiha Sasuke_

"Will the participants please step up?"

Slowly, the two genin emerged from the crowd and stood apart, faced off.

"The first match consists of Akado Yoroi and Uchiha Sasuke. Are you both ready?"

"Yes."

"Good. We will now begin the first match. Will everyone except the two participants move to the upper level?"

Yura followed in her students' direction as they ascended the stairs to the balcony. Her foot had taken a step forward when a hand enclosed hers and she found Hatake ahead of her, tugging her along in a firm grip. She gave no resistance, momentarily surprised at the bold move to think beyond moving her feet. She pulled out of his grasp when they had stopped walking and looked up at him with annoyance.

"What was that for?"

"I wanted you to stand next to me," he said without any embarrassment.

Yura sighed. "Hatake–"

"Kakashi."

"Hatake, you could've just asked."

The pondering expression on his face told her he hadn't thought of it. A silver brow rose and he eyed her sceptically.

"If I asked, you would have?"

Yura blinked as awkwardness flooded her. She looked away uneasily. "Well…maybe?" she winced at how she had made it sound like a question.

She heard a foreign undertone in his quiet laugh. It sounded like…_'Hurt?'_

"Then I'm glad I didn't ask."

Yura stared at him thoughtfully and opened her mouth to reply, when her students' voices cut in.

"Sensei, we were standing over there," Junko pointed further down the balcony, "we tried to get your attention but you didn't notice." She paused and surveyed the both of them with a guilty expression. "We didn't interrupt anything, did we?"

Yura glanced at Hatake then back to Junko. "Nothing too important."

"Hey! It's you guys!" exclaimed a loud boyish voice as Naruto appeared in sight with Sakura, pointing at Junko, Toya and Daiki. "I wonder if I'll get to fight one of you."

Toya grimaced. "You'd have the advantage of having seen us in battle."

Sakura laughed good-naturedly. "So would you. We got one of the Amegakure teams together, didn't we?"

"Yeah, yeah, Sakura-chan's right. We're pretty much even. Though, in the end, you got the scrolls," Naruto added with an accusing glare.

Toya shifted uncomfortably and shot Naruto and Sakura a wary look. "Hey, it's not our fault we were able to knock you out."

Daiki snorted. "No offence, but what else did you expect?"

Yura couldn't help but notice something different about Sakura. It wasn't so much how she spoke, but how she held herself – there was a sense of greater confidence and strength. She ignored Naruto's pouting face in favour of studying the girl's appearance. Her hair was…Yura blinked. "Sakura, when did you cut your hair?"

The chatter amongst the group of genin came to a halt at her sudden question. The mentioned girl blushed slightly and fingered a strand of light pink hair.

"During the second test, actually. I was in the middle of a battle and I was in a situation where I had to cut it short. Ino helped fix it so I hope it's not too bad looking."

Yura smiled reassuringly. "No, it looks good on you."

Any further conversation was interrupted by Naruto telling them to 'be quiet because Sasuke-teme's fight is finally starting.' They turned their attention to the lower level in time to catch Hayate declare the start of the battle. The genin leant against the railing in an attempt to watch the fight more closely.

It progressed quickly. The beginning involved weaponry and basic taijutsu, but Sasuke had managed to flip the other on to his back. Naruto whooped with delight, but it was Akado's hand at Sasuke's chest that was overlooked by most in the excitement.

Next to her, Hatake watched the fight intensely. His eye widened fractionally as it settled on Akado's glowing hand. "His ability is to drain…chakra?"

Yura focused on him, having caught his murmur. "It makes sense. Sasuke's performance has worsened, and he even acknowledged his lack of strength himself."

"_Sasuke-kun!" _

Yura jumped at the shrillness of Sakura's voice and followed the girl's desperate gaze to see Akado holding Sasuke motionless with a harsh grip at the forehead. She winced and noted the way Hatake was able to keep watching, albeit with a steely glint in his eye. It would be hard for any teacher to watch their student go through such rough treatment and not be able to soften the blow.

Sasuke kicked Akado away from him and seemed to draw inspiration from something as he took on a determined expression and a second later, kicked Akado upwards with force that Yura thought only Gai and his student, Lee, were capable of executing. He appeared to be about to perform a follow-up move when he began to cough blood.

Yura watched with fascination and dread as what appeared to be the cursed mark blossomed across Sasuke's neck and his face. There was no telling what would happen should Sasuke be controlled by the cursed seal. Anko had only described it as something that she had come close to experience a few times, but had somehow overcome it. However, the comma-like marks started to recede and he resumed his attack on Akado as if nothing had happened.

"He's fast," she commented, impressed.

Hatake tilted his head in acknowledgement. "Yes, but he can be faster."

Yura nodded after a small pause and covered her yawn with a hand.

"Are you tired?"

She looked at Hatake curiously and nodded. "I was studying some scrolls last night and lost track of time."

"If it helps, my shoulder's free," Hatake supplied with a light tone, not seeming to be aware of the odd looks a few genin shot them at his remark.

Yura cringed as the thought of contact reminded her of Hatake's date request two days ago. She had successfully managed to push it to the back of her mind, but he had brought it to the surface again. She rubbed her temples irritably. "Why do you insist on complicating things?"

Hatake raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not – not," Yura waved her hand in the air agitatedly, "interested in _anything_ to do with a relationship, yet still you're being like this."

He stared at her with that familiar gleam in his grey eye, the one he gave her whenever he amused himself by annoying her. He pitched his voice to just above a whisper. "I won't take no for an answer, or rather, I don't want to. You'll give up your stubbornness sooner or later, I know."

At first she felt embarrassed by his pointed lowering of his voice, but she was somewhat wary of how he had suddenly transformed from being light and teasing to a more serious persona. _'And why does he sound threatening?' _Then she felt anger spark inside her at his confident remark, and she was returning his stare, bewildered into speechlessness.

"…has passed the preliminary!"

"_Yes!" _

Again, Yura jumped and this time she aimed a glare at Naruto's orange jumpsuit.

Hatake chuckled and flipped a page of his novel. "Well, I guess that's my cue. I'll see you later."

She noticed his brief pause to allow time for her reaction, but he didn't appear affected when she gave none. He had body flickered to the arena ground, but not before he left her feeling a passing caress of a breeze across her cheek. She watched his figure below dazedly, wondering about the extent of his determination when it came to her, and as he departed with Sasuke, wondered what he had left for and when he would return.

During the next match-up of Aburame Shino versus Zaku Abumi, Yura noticed her students were becoming restless, especially one of them. Junko would pace around once in a while and then stop to support her forehead almost painfully. Daiki and Toya had been watching her with expressions of wariness, and when Daiki had asked if she was feeling fine, she had glared at him darkly.

Toya came to stop beside Junko and eyed her with frustration. "Why are you being so moody? It's making the rest of us feel even more on edge than we already are." His expectant expression eased a second later to give way to a look of disturbance. "Oh…_oh. _Time of the month, is it? Sorry, forget I asked."

Junko gave her teammate a strange look. "What on earth are you talking about?"

Yura shook her head with amusement. However, she also admitted she felt concern at Junko's behaviour that wasn't like her. There were rarely moments when she appeared negative unless provoked, which owed to her cheerful disposition. Her eyes widened at realisation and she snapped her eyes to Junko.

"Junko," she heard Daiki murmur, "what's the matter? Is it these people?"

Junko looked around nervously for spectators before replying, "Well, yes – no, I think. I mean, I can sense something dangerous about a few of them but I can't figure out exactly what." Her irritation showed through the furrow of her brows. "And some of these genin…won't hesitate to kill. That's why I've been acting all anxious; their aura is putting me on edge. I'm rambling, yes, but I'm starting to feel like maybe I'm not ready to become a chunin. Toya, Daiki, what if one of us–"

Yura placed a hand on each of Junko's shoulders to stop her from continuing when it looked like Toya and Daiki had descended into a state of shock. "Calm down, Junko, you'll get a panic attack." She smiled as the girl inhaled shakily and the tension threaded through her shoulders lessened. "Good. Now, the three of you listen carefully. It can be stressful when somebody tells you they believe in you and you feel differently, and for that I'm sorry. However, I don't want any of you to doubt yourselves. You may think that it's important to not let the people who believe in you down, but remember that what's more important is that you don't let yourself down, understand?"

They regarded her with expressions embarrassment and awe. "Yes," they chorused softly.

She nodded. "Let's keep watching the match. You'll need to keep a sharp eye for detail."

The match only lasted for a further minute or two, however, and her students were once more anticipating the contenders for the next match.

_Poof_

Hatake appeared next to her with a hand in salutation.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto and Sakura exclaimed.

"Hey."

Sakura twitched. "What do you mean 'hey'? How's Sasuke? Is he alright?" she demanded.

"Eh? He's fine – sleeping in a hospital bed, actually," Hatake replied boredly.

"Phew," Sakura sighed in relief.

The scoreboard flashed and a new set of names was displayed: _Tsurugi Misumi vs. Kankuro _

"Still feeling tired?" he teased.

Yura ducked her head in embarrassment, regretting ever telling him. "Not really, actually."

He aimed an eye smile at her and flipped open his book. "So, what did I miss?"

She ignored his dirty novel and recalled the events of the fight that had just ended. "Well, it was Aburame Shino versus Zaku Abumi. Zaku attacked with sound waves, but Shino was able to withstand it, as we discovered later on. Zaku then used his injured right arm to fight when Shino had him cornered. As it turns out, Shino won when his bugs blocked Zaku's air holes in his palms without him noticing, so that when he tried another sound wave attack, his arms were forced to compensate for the built up pressure."

Hatake only nodded in acknowledgement of the information, and she absently wondered whether he would return to the subject they were discussing before he left with Sasuke.

"Yura, is your student alright?"

She glanced at Junko to see the girl fidgeting and exchanging hushed conversation with Daiki and Toya. It was a vast improvement to how she was before, but her still-uneasy temperament was a testament to how serious the Chunin Exam was. She sifted through her possible responses in her head, before finally deciding that Hatake wouldn't be able to use what she would tell him to any significant advantage.

"It's…her bloodline."

Hatake's eye widened.

"She's an inheritor of her clan's lesser bloodline. Unlike the Sharingan, Byakugan and Rinnegan, her bloodline isn't well-known, nor is it specifically named. It's called a lesser bloodline because it only grants the user a single ability; however, that single ability has its advantages and drawbacks. An example would be too much stress."

"And that ability is…?" Hatake prodded, staring at her intensely.

"Sensitivity towards the intentions of others around her. The way it works is that the Suruba clan, her clan, have sensory-like minds which can somewhat connect with the psychological nature of others. It's much like how some ninja are sensors and they can track chakra signatures."

"That explains why she's all bothered."

Yura nodded absently. "There's something I'd like to ask you." She continued hesitantly at his blank expression, "Have you…noticed anything out of place?"

His eyes left his novel and flew to hers, narrowing with suspicion. "That's an interesting question. Why do you ask?"

"Junko said she sensed something or someone dangerous. Her reaction was…it's never been that bad before."

Hatake's guarded expression eased. "I see. In that case, after I had placed a seal over Sasuke's cursed seal, Orochimaru appeared. He said his goal was to take Sasuke's Sharingan for himself."

Worry built up inside her as she remembered the man she and Anko had encountered in the forest of death. He had disguised himself as a genin then, so what method did he use to conceal himself until he appeared before Hatake?

"That's why I went through the trouble of placing Sasuke under Anbu surveillance while he's recovering."

She nodded and they continued observing the ongoing fight below. However, it only lasted a few additional minutes, marking it about as short-lived as the previous match between Shino and Zaku. Once both participants had cleared the arena, the scoreboard began flashing through names again.

_Haruno Sakura vs. Yamanaka Ino_

"Go Sakura-chan!" Naruto whooped.

This time, however, the scoreboard flashed again.

_Winner vs. Suruba Junko_

Junko gaped at the appearance of her name and slowly turned to face Sakura. "You know…it's about time I had my match. Fight well, Sakura, but don't take too long. I really, _really _need to vent." She sent a dirty look towards Toya when he gave an exaggerated _'phew'_.

Sakura blinked and smiled unsurely. "Sure thing, Junko. I'm looking forward to our fight after I beat Ino."

Junko gave her the thumbs up, communicating her support and leant against the railing to study the match intensely.

Lee had gravitated to watch the matches beside Naruto and both participated in enthusiastically rooting for Sakura. Despite this, the end of the match saw both kunoichi unconscious and no victor.

Hatake sighed. "Be right back." He appeared at the lower level with Asuma and hoisted Sakura into his arms and reappeared a second later to rest her form against the wall, as Asuma did with Ino. While the teams of the two kunoichi crowded around them, Yura spotted Junko wearing a look of confusion.

"Junko, are you alright?"

Junko shook her head and gave a small smile. "Yes, it's just that I understand Sakura and Ino fought their hardest, but there's no winner. So…where does that leave me?"

Yura thought for a few seconds before resting an assuring hand on the girl's shoulder. "Well–"

"As there was no winner in the previous match, Suruba Junko will automatically progress to the finals. Moving on…"

Junko stared blankly before hanging her head gloomily. "A free pass? What kind of victory is that?"

Yura sweatdropped and ruffled Junko's hair comfortingly. "Winning by default isn't all that bad. It means less people have seen what you're capable of, so you're given the advantage of the element of surprise. All you have to do is use this as motivation to train harder and show off your skills."

Next to them, Daiki shook his head. "Sensei, I don't understand why you're trying to make the situation seem good when actually it's rather pitiful to win by de–" Yura had him in a headlock and a hand slapped over his mouth.

"Daiki, I care about you, but right now I suggest you stop talking unless you want an even more depressed Junko and a painful noogie," she hissed in his ear.

He nodded in understanding and looked at her oddly once she released him. "A noogie?"

Yura shrugged. "Only thing I could think of."

There were still twelve participants left who had not yet fought. The matches wore on, Sakura and Ino came to, and neither Daiki nor Toya had been selected yet. During the match between Naruto and Kiba they started becoming increasingly agitated.

"Toya-kun, do not be so distressed. I will cheer for your match when it comes, that is, unless I will be the one fighting you!" Lee told Toya, an arm slung over the latter's shoulder. He turned to beam at Daiki. "You too, Daiki-san!"

"Thanks Lee," they replied weakly.

The match ended in an unexpected victory for Naruto, and the next was swiftly being decided. The scoreboard flashed.

_Koga Daiki vs. Oshiro Toya_

It was quiet until Daiki confessed, "I kind of suspected this would happen."

Lee punched the air and yelled out encouragements towards both competitors as other genin watched on with interest.

Toya eyed Daiki with barely concealed excitement and smirked. "It's always interesting fighting you. Hurry and come down already." He leapt over the railing and landed on the lower level in a crouch.

"Hey, my fights are always interesting too," Junko said indignantly.

Daiki quirked an amused smile before hopping over the railing as well.

"Well isn't this interesting. Who do you think will win?" Hatake asked Yura.

Yura contemplated this deeply. Her team had always been very competitive, something that was made clear the day she welcomed them under her tutelage. It was extremely useful during boring D-rank missions because they would race to outdo each other and she often noted the new records they set. Hence, a battle between any two from her team was bound to be tight.

"I honestly don't know. They're obviously very familiar with the techniques and fighting styles of the other. Though…it's exactly that which will make it difficult to produce a winner in this fight." Hatake remained silent as if urging her to continue and she noticed Naruto, Sakura and other nearby genin listening in. "Daiki's a natural at genjutsu and he even has the smarts and chakra to back him up, whereas Toya prefers luring the opponent and trapping them. Both use similar methods, so when they fight, it's always messy and full of layers of tricks."

Hatake looked at her in surprise. "The way you describe them makes them sound like they should be ranked higher than genin."

Yura took on a puzzled expression. "Sometimes I do wonder…well, they're definitely not rookies."

"Definitely not!" Lee agreed, "They were in the same class as Neji, Tenten and me. Isn't that right, Junko-san?"

The aforementioned girl merely flapped her hand in response and kept her eyes glued on her teammates below.

Yura chuckled to herself. _'Probably already thinking up possible scenarios and counterattacks.' _

"Eighth match, Toya, Daiki…" Hayate glanced at both combatants, _"begin."_

Toya made the first move by throwing a handful of high speed shuriken at Daiki who avoided them easily. He expertly performed a set of seals and collected electricity in his palms, then charged towards Daiki.

Daiki closed his eyes in concentration and, in a flash, his hands sped through the seals boar, monkey, ram, tiger and horse. He snapped his eyes open and waited until Toya neared before he reached out to make contact and seemingly dissolved into thin air when Toya's attack connected with him. Toya stumbled slightly and looked around warily.

"What the – he just disappeared!" Naruto scrunched his brows together as his eyes scoured the arena desperately.

Sakura shook her head. "No, he performed some sort of genjutsu."

Toya's eyes widened and he raised a hand to wipe away a trickle of blood from a shallow cut on his cheek. "What…?"

Daiki appeared behind him, a kunai poised at his neck. "Give up."

Toya slowly turned to look him in the eye and Daiki cursed before jumping back.

_BOOM_

"An explosive tag?" Junko murmured to herself. "Why use that?" She sweatdropped at Yura's nod of approval at the use.

The smoke cleared to show Toya in healthy condition standing opposite Daiki who was equally unaffected by the explosive.

"Since when did you use genjutsu, Toya?"

"I've been learning from the day we first fought."

The next fifteen minutes saw Toya managing to injure Daiki by stealthily setting a barrage of weaponry and triggering the trap himself with a kunai he manoeuvred with chakra threads when Daiki refused to fall into it. Daiki had then executed another genjutsu and took on Toya's form. Toya struck Daiki with another lightning based attack but suffered the identical damage he inflicted, and it was revealed that Daiki disguised a genjutsu under another.

Yura grimaced. "I don't like watching drawn out battles. It makes me feel like jumping in there and knocking everyone out just to finish the fight."

"It hasn't even been that long, sensei. You're so impatient," Junko said laughingly.

Hatake clicked his tongue."So very impatient."

Yura narrowed her eyes at him and opened her mouth to retaliate when she was interrupted by a loud _clang _of metal. She twitched. _'That's, what, the fifth time today?' _

"I give up," Toya suddenly announced. "This match could go on for a further half hour but my stamina won't be able to last that long."

Hayate coughed and glanced at a surprised Daiki. "The winner of the eighth match is Koga Daiki. Both of you please return to the upper level so the next match can start."

Daiki scratched his head. "That was a quick dismissal. It made me feel so loved," he commented sarcastically as he and Toya arrived back at their positions.

Toya sighed tiredly and massaged his temples. "That genjutsu of yours has given me a headache. I feel mentally disturbed."

"At least you got to fight," Junko sniped bitterly. "Though…I suppose it was worth it. Nice job, both of you."

"Of course," Daiki said, feigning a cocky attitude. "What else was there to expect?"

Yura pulled her students into a hug and enthusiastically said, "Let's have sushi after this, it'll be my treat!"

Toya frowned at her. "But we don't even like sushi that much. Can't we–"

Yura looked down at him with a stormy expression. "Sushi. My treat. _All of us_."

"R-right."

* * *

><p>"Yura, before you start training your students for the finals, I want you and an Anbu squad to scout the northern border. Under normal circumstances I would send Anko, however she is currently preoccupied with other duties, and I have heard that she has shared some background on her findings with you the last time she was sent on a reconnaissance mission to that location."<p>

Yura nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, something cryptic to do with the Akatsuki. She's been filling me in on recent missions concerning them."

Sarutobi leant back in his office chair in satisfaction. "That is most pleasing. I'm hoping that with your given knowledge of the Akatsuki you'll be able to contribute to the likeliness of tracking their recent activities, as their existence is not well known outside the Anbu. The organisation is a dangerous one – in fact, one of its members was once a clan member in Konoha." He coughed uncomfortably and she took in the great deal of stress he had accidentally slipped through his aged features. "You are to deploy with the Anbu squad at the front gates in no longer than ten minutes, is that clear?"

"Yes sir, Saru," she affirmed.

"Good, now, I hope you use the door for once–" _Sigh. _"And she's already out the window. Someone get me some tea."


	8. Past and Present

I've been rereading some of the early chapters of this fic and now I'm on an editing craze. I'm not sure if you'll receive notifications about these changes, but if that's the case then I apologise for the abundance of notifications in advance. Already, tidbits of some chapters have been edited, but the new content won't impact significantly, so there won't be any need to go back and scour for the changes.

I know the whole Gaara situation is rather confusing and after reading this chapter – more confusing, but it will definitely all be cleared up in a few chapters (five? six?) after this one. Also, not all chapters will be this lengthy – this one just happens to carry a lot of information.

_May disregard some canon content. _

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

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**EIGHT  
><strong>_**Past and Present**_

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"Anything?" Rabbit asked from the far right.

"Still nothing," Tiger sighed, flicking the remaining earth off her fingers from her inspection.

"Alright, let's keep heading straight."

The group kicked off into the forest in further search of any trails or evidence left behind by the Akatsuki. Approximately two hours had passed, but nothing had been found. They were starting to give up hope and considered returning to Konoha earlier than they were expected to, when Yura spotted a faint, small silhouette in the sky. She dismissed the bird without a second thought. However, as they travelled she noticed its shadow seemed to follow theirs and finally stopped and tilted her head skywards.

"Wait, look up," Yura called out to the others who halted abruptly.

The bird circled them overhead before swooping down to land on Wolf's outstretched arm.

"A messenger bird?" Wolf murmured, mystified, as he noticed the piece of paper the bird held between its beak. He took the slip and unfolded it with his other hand. "What the…"

"What is it?"

Wolf wordlessly passed it along. When the paper finally got to her, Yura stared that the columns of black ink with puzzlement. "It's a code of some sort."

Wolf nodded. "We should return to Konoha immediately and report to the Hokage, then deliver this to the cryptology unit."

They answered affirmatively and pivoted to make haste back to their village.

* * *

><p>She had managed to catch Anko off duty a few days later, and once again found herself seated inside the woman's favourite dango shop. She pressed her hands against her cup of steaming tea and absorbed the warmth with contentment while listening to Anko blabber.<p>

"…right? So I said, 'Take it like a man! Rub some dirt on it!' and then he ran away crying. God, I'll never understand how that guy became a chunin."

Yura laughed half-heartedly at Anko's silly antics. She found herself being scrutinised by brown eyes and shifted self-consciously. "What is it?"

"Spit it out. There's more to this get-together than pleasantries," Anko said bluntly.

Yura smiled sheepishly, cheeks tinging pink with embarrassment. "You know me too well. I was actually hoping to bring up the Akatsuki and Orochimaru."

Anko blinked in surprise and looked around warily for any eavesdroppers. "Alright, well what about them?"

"In the recent mission that I arrived back from, a strange note was given to us by a messenger bird. The Anbu squad that was also involved in scouting was able to hand over the note to the cryptology unit. They were able to decode the message so that it read, 'Beware of what slithers, for snakes can rarely be trusted. Look to the sky for the colour red. Konoha, heed this advice – be prepared.'"

Anko was silent for a moment, wide-eyed at the information. She looked down at her plate of half eaten dango thoughtfully. "So it's a reference to Orochimaru and the Akatsuki, huh."

Yura furrowed her brows. "That's the thing. How is 'look to the sky for the colour red' connected to the organisation?"

"Well, one of the few definite things we know about them is that they wear a black cloak with red clouds. A uniform, you could call it."

"I see…"

Anko perked up as a thought crossed her mind. "Do you know who sent the bird?"

Yura shook her head morosely before her eyes brightened. "No, but there was a clue. The bird isn't native to Konoha or any area near this village, which suggests the sender is elsewhere in the fire country or in another country. Considering their being outside Konoha, we can assume they're not an enemy, else they wouldn't have 'helped' us."

"That's reasonable," Anko acknowledged. "Further investigation may help, though the source sounds elusive."

"Hm."

They were drawn into a silence only disturbed by the occasional sipping of tea and the chewing of dango. They both knew that Konoha was being threatened by two forces that weren't easy opponents, and although Sarutobi cited from an undisclosed source that the Akatsuki hadn't yet been active, the message received spoke of future conflict. On the other hand, Orochimaru had already made his presence clear during the second and third stages of the Chunin Exam and they probably weren't his last appearances.

Anko placed her cup of tea on the table with slightly more force than necessary. "I don't know about you, but I've had enough gloominess to last me a week. Let's talk about something more fun."

Yura blinked and leant away from the woman's slow-forming grin. "Y-yes, let's," she agreed.

Anko folded her arms on the table and stared at the redhead intensely. "Well, for starters, have you gotten laid recently?"

Spluttering, Yura felt heat quickly rise to her face and shot to her feet with urgency. "_No! _I wouldn't–"

She was promptly pulled back down to her seat by a very amused Anko.

"Alright, alright, no need to draw the attention of the whole store, girl…unless, of course, you really _did _get laid in which, I suppose, this could be a cause for cele–"

"_Anko!" _Yura hissed, shielding her face from the prying, curious eyes of other customers. "Why are we even talking about this in – no, what brought this on? If it's a joke, it's not very funny."

Anko shrugged unabashedly. "If I was joking, you'd be rolling on the floor right now." She rolled her eyes at Yura's accusing look and grinned. "I couldn't help it! There's something different about you today."

"'Different'? How?"

"You're more…peaceful. Something like that."

"Oh," was all Yura could reply with. She understood what Anko was referring to, though of course she had not achieved her current state of mind with the _method_ Anko had suggested. Painful hours upon hours of thinking and consideration over the past few days had managed to soothe a particularly insistent issue at mind, hence her better mood.

"Well?" Anko demanded, spooning some red bean soup into her mouth.

Yura was reluctant to let anyone know about the matter. It was embarrassing, she thought, to share something so personal even with family or friends. But it would probably be better getting it off her chest rather than huddling into herself and wanting to explode. Besides, Anko may be loud, but she was trustworthy and could keep personal things personal.

Despite this, she found it hard to form the first words, and so found herself speaking nonsense to a blank faced Anko for a few seconds. "Um, a few days ago – sometime during the second test, Hatake told me he was…interested in me."

Anko stared. And stared. And–

"You've gotta be shitting me. What – oh, uh, no offence to you, but _Kakashi_ said he was–" She blinked. "You _do _mean he's interested as in _interested _interested, right?"

Yura nodded, slightly bewildered at the amount of emphasis.

"Wow…and here I thought those books were it for him. Talk about unexpected."

She agreed wholeheartedly.

"_So_," Anko said with bright eyes, "what did you do?"

Yura frowned. What _did _she do? She told herself to keep up her walls and told Hatake she didn't like the idea of involving herself with anyone.

"Basically I told him I didn't return his interest."

Anko choked on the dango in her mouth, swallowing harshly and laughed. "I wish I was there to see his expression! Not that I have anything against him, but it was high time another girl appeared and didn't fall to his feet."

Yura shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "I suppose. He didn't really – well…he just said that he won't take no for an answer."

Anko took on a strange expression. "Did he get that from Itchy Itchy something? It sounds perverted." She shook her head at Yura's confusion. "Anyway, I'm not surprised by his reaction since he's the competitive type. When we were younger, he would always get mad whenever someone beat him in the number of push ups or sit ups or whatever exercise he did, that someone being none other than Gai. I even once saw both of them arguing over a game of rock-paper-scissors. Still, I don't see how this has affected your peace of mind."

"I've been thinking – a lot, and I think maybe the whole idea about dating won't be too bad."

Yura realised she hadn't been able to stop her attraction towards Hatake from growing and as it was, she would frequently find herself thinking about him, his hair, his slouch and other things to do with him and how much he frustrated her. And then she thought to herself that if her feelings were so strong, then it couldn't possibly be horrible to give things a chance, right? It was the only conclusion she could think up that didn't involve subjecting herself to further confusion.

"Eh, good for you, Yura. Go for it. I've always wanted an excuse to draw some blood. In this case it would be Kakashi continuing even after you told him to stop and–"

"_Anko!_"

Anko looked at the flaming face of her friend and chuckled. "I'm just messing with you. But seriously, you know I'm awesome and I'll be here for you, right?"

Yura felt the heat at her cheeks lessen as she smiled back, touched by Anko's notion. "Yeah, I know. Thanks."

"No problem, just as long as you're not too sappy. Hey, I, uh, need to get home and feed the dog. I'll see you later!"

She watched amusedly as Anko waved frantically and zipped out the door of the dango shop. The entire situation seemed awfully familiar – Anko's departure in particular. She pondered this over with a thoughtful frown. Plus, she thought, since when did Anko own a dog?

"Miss…?"

Yura looked up and faced a sheepish looking waitress.

"We're closing up early today, so I'll leave the bill with you. I've got to be somewhere else, so when you're ready, please bring it up to the front."

She nodded in understanding. But it was then that it hit her – Anko had once again left her with the bill.

Sighing in defeat, she glanced at the amount due and nearly fell out of her chair.

* * *

><p>Not much happened in the following week. The weather was always bright and brought clear skies and the milling faces of civilians and shinobi were ever the same. Yura found the days slipping past languidly; it seemed her daily routine consisted of training her students, training by herself, sushi, getting through more D-rank missions and sleeping in early. She would think it was nice to fall into a routine if she was less paranoid, and so the tranquility of Konoha contributed nothing but restlessness.<p>

On a day when the sun dawned earlier than usual, she stood in front of Junko and Daiki in the training grounds. Toya had insisted on watching them from the sidelines, though he seemed more eager to join in than observe.

"Junko, there's a possibility you'll be fighting the Hyuuga boy in the finals. You already know his clan's fighting style, right? You can't allow him to touch you, and if you can't counter his attacks, then you dodge – hence we'll be working on your speed and reaction time today."

Junko nodded thoughtfully. "Right. So what do I do first?"

"Thirty laps around this field with Toya's ankle bracelets, as if your life depended on it…which it probably does. Once you're done, I want you to dodge the kunai Toya will throw at you. Meanwhile, I'll be helping Daiki train."

Junko saluted and attached the weights to her ankles before setting off; whereas Toya looked surprised he had been included in the training regime.

Yura turned to Daiki who blinked at the sudden attention and shot up from his cross legged position on the ground.

"I don't think there is a specific way to prepare you against a puppeteer, Daiki, so we'll just be working on the basics." She twisted around to look at the red haired boy. "Toya, spar him. I'll point out any flaws and we'll work on them until Junko arrives. I'll take over for you then."

She watched as they readied their stances before drawing a kunai and swiftly flinging it between them. The solid _thunk _of metal into tree signalled them towards each other.

Practice finally ceased at late afternoon. They laid on the grass, tired and content to watch the drifting blue above them.

"If I were an ice cream, I'd be melting and leaving sticky mess everywhere."

"Stop it; you're giving me disturbing images." Daiki threw an arm over his eyes. "Why's it still so hot?"

Junko blinked and burst into a bout of breathless laughter but stopped to clutch her side painfully. "Ouch. Really, you two….I've got a stitch, you know!"

Toya grunted and they were engulfed in a brief silence.

"…So what flavour would you be?"

"I'm thinking strawberry."

Yura stared blankly for a moment as she was overcome with a memory of Hatake leading her to a grassy park where he had somehow persuaded her to have ice cream together. She didn't remember what bench they sat on or what colour the sky was – only that he had ordered chocolate and she ordered strawberry.

She had accepted it – but it didn't fail to surprise her that less than two weeks ago she would've been compelled to squash the memory, when now she found herself looking back almost fondly.

"–sei? Sensei?"

She blinked and three curious faces came into focus.

"All of you – go home, you're too loud." She swatted at them playfully.

They pulled back to avoid getting hit and looked at each other in confusion. Daiki scratched his green mop of hair.

"Eh? So training's finally over for today?"

Yura laughed at their hopeful faces. "That's right. You'll be excited to hear the three of you have tomorrow off. We all need the extra rest."

And as expected, joyful exclamations followed.

Hours had passed since her students had left to return home. She wasn't sure how the day had turned into night so quickly. She used the time to sleep off some weariness, and in between drifting in and out of consciousness, thought about Hatake.

Tomorrow, she told herself firmly, she would visit him and they would talk.

* * *

><p>Yura flicked on the switch and her small apartment flooded with light. She tiredly ambled into the kitchen and boiled some water, planning to enjoy a peaceful to the day with some tea in front of the television. She entered the lounge room and reached for the remote but froze as she felt a pinprick sensation. Her eyes slowly rose to the ceiling.<p>

It was subtle, but there. Somebody above, on her roof or another, had spiked their chakra desperately. It didn't even last a second.

Straightening, and without hesitation, she raised her hands to a seal and body flickered to stand on the roof of her apartment building. She blinked to adjust her vision from artificial brightness to the night, vaguely noting the slight chill of the air and the luminous full moon. Closing her eyes, she willed herself to catch the same chakra signature before, but it had disappeared completely. Either the person had moved away, the chakra had been masked or something unpleasant had occurred.

She leapt to a higher rooftop and surveyed the area again.

'_There!'_

Two silhouettes were atop a lower spherical roof, one standing over the other.

Yura gripped the handle of her sword, relieved she hadn't thought of laying it down in her apartment, and watched them cautiously. She frowned, eyeing the immobile figure. The person was still, almost too still as if...

She unsheathed her sword in a swift motion and jumped down to land opposite the standing figure. The metal plate of the tall man's forehead protector glinted and she loosened her grip on Aogari in confusion.

"What business does a Sunagakure jonin have outside at this time?"

The man silently examined her features for a moment before responding.

"Is everyone not entitled to a bit of fresh air?"

Yura coloured slightly in embarrassment and lowered her gaze to the face-down unmoving man in between them. She narrowed her eyes at the tell-tale red swirl on the back of the man's flak jacket and jerked back in surprise.

"A…Konoha shinobi?" She snapped her head up to look at the Sunagakure ninja. "Did you do this?" she demanded.

"Yes, I did what I had to. His death was his own fault."

His expression was unreadable and his tone was smooth. She stared at him with disbelief, unable to detect a waver in his voice or understand his logic. She pushed off and sped towards him, careful not to disturb the deceased Konoha ninja, and attacked.

He either blocked or dodged, but never did he retaliate.

The Sunagakure shinobi twisted away from the reach of another blow and stopped the next by grasping the wrist of her sword arm firmly. He warily eyed the tip of the blade inches from his neck.

Her chest heaved with her sharp breathing and she was left feeling more than slightly winded and confused. "Why? The alliance treaty between Konoha and Suna–"

"Is of no concern to me. Restrain yourself. I will not fight you. In fact, I have a message that I and the other members of the Suna council wish to pass on to you. To begin with, I am Baki. There is no need to tell me your name – that I already know."

He released his grip on her and Yura slowly lowered her sword, still distrusting of Baki.

"The message?"

"You, Amori Yura, are to return to Sunagakure with my team and me during the Chunin Exam to deal with your betrayal of your home village. You will be given a signal which will be obvious once it has been executed."

Her eyes widened and she stared at him in shock.

Baki regarded her frostily. "Although Suna and Konoha are technically allies at this time, it does not change the fact that you are a Sunagakure missing-nin. Konoha will never be the village in which you belong. Don't try to convince yourself otherwise."

Her empty hand clenched into a fist.

"I may have once been under Suna's ninja ranks and called the village my home, but I severed all ties with Suna the day I left. To return to that place is unthinkable."

"If you do not, you will be killed," Baki replied instantaneously. "The knowledge you have of Suna and the destructive power…_he _possesses risks exposure if you choose to disobey the Suna council."

Her eyes flashed at the threat as a face appeared in her mind. "Gaara? 'Destructive power'? You're implying he is to be used for…" She tensed in realisation. "I see. How sickening."

Something flickered across Baki's face, too brief to be named.

"Such is the way of this world. If you don't mind – I need to be somewhere, so I will leave you to consider your options." He turned his back to her and paused. "Consider carefully. One wrong move and the lives of everyone in Konoha will be at stake."

She stood motionless for a moment or two, thinking about the people of Konoha, the shinobi, the citizens and the children and their naïveté. The threat was taken to heart and she painfully imagined the loss and devastation everyone would face in the destruction of Konoha and what little would be salvaged for the future generations.

She had no choice. It was not right to be this selfish – the sacrifices were too great.

Hand seals were formed rapidly and a chakra barrier enclosed the still body of the Konoha ninja to prevent external interference. Yura nodded to herself. Good, one thing was to be dealt with at a time.

She leapt towards the Hokage tower and startled the Anbu guards stationed at the entrance when she suddenly landed in front of them.

"There's a dead body of one of our shinobi at seven o'clock, roughly two hundred metres from here."

The two Anbu nodded and made to head in the direction.

"Wait – is the Hokage still in his office?"

One of them paused to nod while the other raced ahead.

Yura gathered chakra to the soles of her feet and jumped on the protruding sill of one of the windows of the Hokage's office. She crouched awkwardly and peered through the window, into the bright room. Sarutobi was reclining in his chair, feet on the table with stacks of paperwork piled on the floor. She knocked on the glass and watched amusedly as he started awake, nearly tipping over his cup.

He turned to look at the window and blinked at the sight of her. Sighing, he got up slowly and threw open the window to raise a brow questioningly.

"One of our shinobi was found dead not long ago."

His eyes narrowed and he turned to climb back into his chair. "Well then, we shall discuss the matter inside this room. Shut the window behind you."

Yura did as told and found herself facing sombre eyes that demanded explanation.

"Shortly after I arrived home I felt chakra spiking outside. It came from the rooftop of one of the nearby buildings. When I arrived I saw a Suna jonin standing over the dead body of a Konoha chunin or jonin – I'm not sure."

Sarutobi's jaw slackened in surprise. "Baki? His group was the genin team sent by Sunagakure. But…I don't believe it. Our villages signed a treaty only recently!"

Yura continued hesitantly, "He admitted to the murder, but he said the man brought on his own death."

"_Nonsense!_" Sarutobi hissed. "How dare Suna betray us! I will eliminate he and his team from the Chunin Exam immediately, and send message to Suna, informing them of the idiotic actions he–"

"No!" She blurted out, horrified. "He threatened to destroy Konoha if I made a 'wrong move'. Evicting them from the Chunin Exam would do nothing but insult Suna and fuel their reason for conflict."

"A bluff? Suna has acknowledged the great strength of this village – one of the outstanding reasons they agreed on an alliance. It wouldn't make sense to attack, even if they use frontline power."

She mulled this over in silence.

"Unless…they have allied with another village and plan to wage war with combined forces."

Sarutobi nodded wearily. "Correct. I cannot believe how outrageous this entire situation is. However, from Baki's actions and words, we can now assume Sunagakure is plotting against Konoha."

An Anbu appeared beside Yura – one she recognised by their mask as one of the guards who had left to recover the body of the dead ninja.

"Hokage-sama, the Anbu have identified the body as Gekko Hayate."

She stiffened in surprise and eyed Sarutobi's trembling fists.

He cursed. "Take care of the body. We will hold a burial tomorrow and…" He winced. "Inform Yugao of his passing."

The Anbu nodded and was gone in the next second.

Sarutobi buried his face in his hands for a few seconds before lifting his head and eyeing her speculatively.

"I'm surprised you are still alive. Typically, a person in your place would be dead."

Yura flinched at his harsh phrasing. "There is more to it," she admitted. "Apparently the Suna council wants me to return to Suna to discuss my…abandonment of the village. I think they're hoping to reinstate me as a ninja under their system after they place me under village arrest or something similarly ridiculous. If I refuse, then I will be killed and Konoha will very likely be destroyed."

"The fact that the Kazekage or Suna council failed to discuss your situation with me despite our treaty definitely means something is going on. Yura, what do you think you will do?"

She blinked the tears out of her eyes at the painful realisation that the next week and a half could be her final moments in this village she loved dearly. Already, she could feel Konoha slipping away, her students and friends out of reach. It wasn't fair – but then again, she had not been raised in Konoha. The village was not her birthplace, not her home.

"I will leave as Baki has told me to," she finally bit out.

Then, unbelievingly, Sarutobi _smiled _at her.

"As Hokage, I will do what is best for this village, which would mean letting you return to Sunagakure. However, I have faith in this village to defend itself. Konoha is not to be trifled with, something Suna is foolishly doing, and they will suffer because of that. You will not have to leave, as it appears Suna had planned to pull a stunt from the very beginning, and that is enough to tell them to mind their own business and not go hounding after one of our own."

Yura stared at him with wide eyes, stunned into speechlessness.

"I…thank you, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi inclined his head in acknowledgement and seemed to draw something from her expression.

"The threat also extended because of the incident with the boy named Gaara, correct?"

"I believe so. Back then he had taken something important away from me, and so I wanted to take something away from him. In the end, I stopped myself from taking his life before leaving. The point is – Suna views me as a potential source of information for outsiders because of my knowledge about Suna and Gaara. After all, they're planning to use him for military power."

Sarutobi's eyes widened. "An inhumane but resourceful method. Yes, I see…" He looked at her with a stern sort of kindness. "What we have discussed today is top secret, classified S-rank information. Go home; we have been here for ages. Rest assured that I will not yet let Baki know of our knowledge of their plans by disqualifying his team. Only extra safety precautions will be taken for now. "

Yura bowed and murmured a farewell before opening the window and zipping outside towards her apartment, mind whirring.

That night, she drank her cup of tea while sitting on the couch, took a shower, and then headed for bed.

She dreamt of the Hokage monument, her parents, Gaara, her students, Kurenai, Hatake, Anko, Asuma, Sarutobi, Hayate and the destruction of Konoha.

* * *

><p>The next day found her wandering the streets of Konoha, looking around in confusion. She had managed to muster enough courage to try and find Hatake's residence so she could discuss certain things with him. The problem was that she didn't know where he lived and if she didn't find out soon, her nerve would fade.<p>

That was what brought her to stop Gai when she saw him.

"Gai, you know where Hatake lives, right?"

Gai blinked and his face broke out into a wide, toothy smile.

"Of course! Being best friends, I practically know what time he eats, when he goes to the bathroom and how he likes his curry," he said smugly.

Yura smiled uneasily. "Well, can you please point me in the direction?"

His teeth gleamed. "I, like any other gentleman, will be glad to lend my service. Keep walking straight from here until you see a large fruit stand, turn right and follow the road, then at the intersection, take the left path and you'll see Kakashi's apartment building. It's the one with a lot of bushes at the front. You'll find him on the seventh floor."

She nodded in thanks and waved as he side-stepped his way towards the training grounds.

Following the directions Gai gave her, she was lead to the front door of Hatake's apartment. She paced for a moment, mentally repeating what she would say and imagining how the conversation would flow. With a final deep breath, she raised a hand and knocked on wood three times.

Nothing sounded from the other side of the door, no footsteps, only silence. Yura frowned and knocked again.

She stood there for five minutes, accompanied by a buzzing fly in the background, fuming at the possibility that she had taken days to worry, rethink and prepare for this moment – only to be rejected by a _door _and simply because Hatake wasn't home.

Shifting her weight between her feet, she contemplated escaping the awfully embarrassing situation she found herself in. But, she told herself, it would be better to get it over and done with, else she would go mad. Resigned to waiting a few moments longer, she imagined convincing Sasuke to scorch Hatake's apartment door and smirked.

"Is there something you want?"

Yura jumped and spun around to look up at Hatake who blinked and regarded her with curiosity. As soon as she locked eyes with him, she felt all the built up courage, her esteemed bravado, slip out the window and replaced with dread. Dread for how much easier it was to lose her words than it had been to prepare them, and looking like an idiot as she stared at him cluelessly.

"I was…"

He raised a brow. "Was…?"

'_Think! In situations like this, a shinobi must be able to improvise and demonstrate their abilities of deception and scheming. In doing so, the target will be fooled–'_

"Admiring your door!" she blurted out before she could stop herself. "You have…a wider doorframe than I do, and the colour is better. Um…overall, a nice door. Now that I'm done here, I'll leave." She coloured brightly, horrified at how incredibly foolish she sounded and Hatake's evident growing disbelief.

Making a run for it was the only option she had left. She had already taken a few steps, one more and she would disappear so fast he wouldn't realise what happened.

A sigh and then–

"No, come inside and join me for some tea. You're already here and I'm feeling deprived of human contact."

Yura hesitantly remained where she was and watched as Hatake unlocked the door and swung it open, looking at her expectantly. She took a step forward, then another and finally slipped past him and into a room with plain carpet. She took off her shoes and did a brief scan of what appeared to be the living room.

"Sit," Hatake told her, waving a hand at the couch.

"But–"

"Now how about that tea?" His eye smiled down at her with amusement. "Then we can get into discussing why you were really admiring my door with such intensity."

Yura glared at the slight trembling of his shoulders as he trudged into the kitchen, blissfully unaware of how much she wanted to drop a boulder on him. Reluctantly, she complied and sat down. Suddenly feeling very tired, she slumped in her seat and went over the appearance of the living room more thoroughly. Soon, she was overcome with curiosity and stood up and proceeded to take a closer look.

She stopped to look at a framed photograph of Kakashi as a child, standing with another boy and a girl, and a man with spiky blonde hair in the background.

"That was my genin team," Hatake provided, emerging from the kitchen to join her in looking at the old photograph.

She wondered about the wistfulness in the voice. Perhaps he had lost touch with them, or they had died in battle. Either way, she felt it was better not to ask. She made a sound of acknowledgement and scanned the faces, eyes narrowing at the man. His blonde hair and blue eyes strongly reminded her of somebody else – their name was on the tip of her tongue.

"Who is he?" She gestured to the man. "He looks familiar."

"Namikaze Minato, the fourth Hokage. He was a great leader."

Realisation hit her. He reminded her of Naruto, but perhaps what Naruto would look like once he became an adult. The resemblance was so obvious that she wanted to laugh at the fact that she hadn't been able to name Naruto straight away.

"You know, it's funny how much Naruto looks like him. Sarutobi once mentioned that the fourth Hokage was the one who sealed Kurama into Naruto. He also said that Naruto's parents died in the war. I don't understand…why make an orphan a jinchuriki? Isn't it bad enough that his parents were–"

"Minato was Naruto's father," Hatake interjected softly. "He made his own child a jinchuriki to save the village."

Yura's eyes widened as she took in the information. "Then he did not marry? Naruto's surname…"

There was a bitter edge to Hatake's chuckle.

"He requested that Naruto didn't take on his surname, but his mother's. His reason was so that the village would not be able to make the connection of Naruto being his son, thus preventing any possible accusations to do with Naruto being the cause of his death. Minato also had many enemies, and he didn't want his son to live a more difficult life than he knew Naruto already would. "

She smiled. "A hero for his village and child, huh?"

"An interesting guy as well," Hatake added lightly. "I never understood why he liked ramen so much. Then again, it was probably because of Kushina who influenced him with her constantly eating salt ramen–"

"Kushina?" she murmured, something at the back of her mind reacting to the name.

"Yes, Uzumaki Kushina. She was Minato's wife and Naruto's mother. She actually wasn't born in Konoha, but arrived from Uzushiogakure." Hatake looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. "There's not much else I know about her, just the basics."

As soon as Uzushiogakure was spoken, everything clicked into place. The Land of Whirlpool, the death of _Uzumaki_ Kushina, _Uzumaki_ Naruto, and Minato. She had only briefly pondered Naruto's surname, and it was only because she had grown used to expecting red hair from any Uzumaki, not blonde. Had she made the instant connection that Naruto was of Uzumaki blood, coming from a prominent clan of the once-thriving Uzushiogakure…

"One year…? It took me one year to realise…?"

Hatake's eyes narrowed at her disbelieving tone. "Yura, what's the matter?"

Yura swallowed, head spinning and feeling off balance. She had searched for Kushina in the past, and failed to catch her. However, she had left her legacy behind in the form of Uzumaki Naruto, and Yura promised to look after him from this day on as his friend, family and protector.

"Naruto and I…it turns out we're distant relatives."

It seemed like minutes that Hatake looked at her with that blank expression, but he had managed to clear his momentary speechlessness within a few seconds.

"Relatives? In what way?"

Yura sighed and walked to the sofa to sit down again. She patted the seat next to her and waited until Hatake sat before explaining.

"My mother was a member of the Uzumaki clan and a survivor of the devastating destruction of Uzushiogakure many years ago. She was still quite young at that time – perhaps in her mid-twenties. Anyway, like others who survived, she fled to another country, to Sunagakure, where she met my father and I was born.

"She and my father died in a battle twenty years later, and so I felt I should leave Sunagakure as I believed there was nothing left for me there. Recalling her telling me about our clan and the top-secret information of how a young girl named Uzumaki Kushina had been sent to Konohagakure to become the jinchuriki of Kurama, I headed for Konoha in order to find the young girl who would have become a woman – the only relative I knew existed. I suppose it was also a good thing that Suna and Konoha didn't hold an alliance treaty then.

"I had told Sarutobi about my situation and he welcomed me into this village, although he had asked that I second-guess my decision to make Konoha my new residence because of the large amount of paperwork he would have to handle. Anyway, I should probably say that I hadn't told him about my wish to see Kushina yet – I was adamant about finding her myself because I believed it to be a personal clan matter to reunite with family. So for weeks, I would look through the village crowds for a woman with bright red hair and abnormally powerful chakra.

"However, the time came when I admitted that I couldn't find her, both to myself and Sarutobi. I was shocked when I learnt she had died eleven years ago, and devastated that I had lost another person I could identify with. I thought about leaving Konoha to search for other surviving members of the Uzumaki clan, but by then I had come to love Konoha and its peacefulness. That's the reason why I'm still here today and not somewhere else."

Yura finished with a sigh, feeling exhausted after talking about her past. She glanced at Hatake to see him looking at her with a strange expression. She looked away uncomfortably.

"What is it, Hatake?"

He chuckled faintly. "It's just that I never would've known you were related to Naruto had you or another person not told me. So now that you know, what will you do?"

Yura smiled and didn't need to pause to think when she said, "I'll stay in Konoha. Not only because of Naruto, but because of how much I love this village and the friends I've made."

Hatake's eye curved into a mirroring smile and he stood from his seat.

"That's good to hear. I'll go get the tea, I won't be long."

Yura nodded and stared down at her lap, thinking about the unnerving ease with which she had been able to confide in Hatake. However, she was also extremely grateful, and she would forever be, that he had given her another person she could call family.

"I've got some leftover sushi in the fridge. Do you want it?"

And he was _definitely_ another reason why she would be staying in Konoha.


	9. The Foundations of Many Things

Very, very, _very_ late update! I'm sorry! Lots of things have happened the past two (three?) months that have left me with little energy – exams, being sick, homework (and moments of laziness), etc. I've got heaps of excuses, and most of them I'm sure aren't valid.

I sat in front of my laptop and stared at the beginnings of this chapter with determination a few nights ago once I got a bit of my writing grove back. As you can see, I'm definitely not a speedy writer _–facepalm–._I could probably update quicker than a week, but there are days when my mind has the urge of switching between reading and writing fics for days, so that makes it difficult. But again, I'm sorry for the very late update.

Error point-outs are always appreciated. Enjoy!

_May disregard some canon content. _

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

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**NINE  
><strong>_**The Foundations of Many Things**_

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A dangerous frown twisted her features as she marched towards the Hokage tower. It was ironic how less than sixteen hours ago, she and Sarutobi were engaged in a conversation with clear mutual respect, when now she wanted nothing more than to wrap her hands around his important neck and throttle him until his eyes whirled around his head. That said – Yura was unaware of how village children stopped at the sight of her and tugged fearfully at the hem of their mothers' clothes, asking who the 'scary lady' was.

She was experiencing a myriad of emotions in her gut. She could dissect from it: anger, indignation and weariness, but most of all – the joy that had fully replaced the emptiness in her that longed for family. Her eyes were once more opened to the cheerful faces of the villagers as she passed them by. Parents and children and family were united. It reminded her of the dizzying envy she felt when she first arrived at Konoha to see everyone so happy. But no longer did she feel the same. She finally had family again.

And Naruto was now hers to look after, whether the boy knew it or not.

Then there was Hatake. He had been kind enough to allow her to stay for another hour or two, commenting on the dreariness of the weather and watching her as she forced herself to eat his leftover sushi with considerably more grace than she did when alone. He had also been the one who had led her to the discovery; without his willingness to humour her curiosity, she may not have found out until much later. Overwhelmed, she had shot up from his sofa and swung her arms around him to give a crushing hug, then sped out the door without a backward glance.

Presently, she stood outside the door to the Hokage's office, steeling herself and mentally running through the possible routes the conversation could head in.

"Come in," called Sarutobi's muffled voice.

Grimacing, she swung it open and closed it behind her, taking in the aged man seated behind his large desk. He surreptitiously hid his wariness in his eyes, and she had only detected it because it was what she was looking for. They both knew she would only walk through that door if there was a matter of great personal significance. The last time she did was the day she learnt of Kushina's passing.

Sarutobi eyed for a few tense seconds, almost looking resigned as he sighed and removed the pipe from his mouth. "You know, don't you?"

Yura took slow steps forward until she plopped herself down on to the padded chair opposite him. She felt odd, unsure how to act. She always disliked being angry – the raised voice, stiff posture and other definitive actions always zapped away her energy and left her feeling regretful. Her decidedly level gaze on Sarutobi was the result of this.

"You didn't tell me about Naruto," she accused sharply. "Why?"

The blonde had never really been her focus of attention. Sure he was loud, but he was just there, another student of another sensei. But she would now see him in a new light – would look for the features of the fourth Hokage in his face and ask how his day was, because there was only a slight familiarity between both of them – and building trust was the foundation of every relationship.

"What would you have done? Your mind would have been overruled by emotions and you would have told the boy everything. I was waiting for the right time – when I was sure you'd be able to handle the knowledge."

Sarutobi had a point, she grudgingly admitted, remembering her pitiful state the days that followed after her hope to find Kushina had been squashed. Even she would not have dared to say a word to her former self.

"But I see that you are handling it rather well. In that case, you are not to tell Naruto anything. Do not tell him about his parents and do not tell him that you are related to him. He's far too emotional at the moment and it won't do to have him distracted in the midst of the Chunin Exams."

Yura stared at his firm expression with disbelief. "I don't understand. It's never a good thing to keep a child's parents from them. I know of Mina – _Yondaime's_ wishes, but Kushina is a different story!" She registered the surprise on Sarutobi's face with satisfaction. "Any child would be overjoyed to know about their parents – I believe Naruto would only try harder to become stronger."

Her first thought had been that she would be able to give the boy the recognition and attention he desperately wanted, maybe even more and without arousing suspicion if she revealed they were relatives. There was an issue at hand, however – what way was there to let Naruto know that piece of information without revealing too much?

"…It was not my decision to keep things from the boy. I agree with you, but the council thought it would be disastrous if Naruto found out as he currently is."

"You can overrule them," Yura replied exasperatedly. "The council can't force–"

"I know that," Sarutobi said sharply. "But the one thing I agree with them on is that he is not mature enough. Yura…he is still a child. Children cannot handle emotion rationally. That part of their brain is not yet fully developed." He held up a hand to silence her protest. "It's only right that if we decide to tell someone the truth, we tell everything. Think about what he would do if he learnt Kushina died to protect him shortly after his birth."

Yura watched with a sense of defeat as Sarutobi exhaled smoke and glanced out the window, down at the busy, sprawling village of Konoha.

"Naruto…is the type of person who thinks he should be able to shoulder everything by himself. With the knowledge of his mother, it's possible he'll blame himself for her death. Eventually…"

She stared out the window as well, frowning at the expanse of land. Were they doing the right thing? Was _she_ doing the right thing? For the sake of Naruto, she hoped she was.

"Then I want to be the first informed whenever Naruto's safety is threatened."

Sarutobi turned back to her, eyes lightening as he laughed. "Are you trying to bargain with me?"

Yura was torn between exasperation and amusement.

"I can agree to let you be one of the first to be informed. I understand your feelings about this, but be aware – the brat's a handful." He smirked around the pipe. "You're sure related to an odd one."

She scoffed. "Odd isn't bad. I know that look, Saru. Why're you worried? He's in good hands…I think."

Sarutobi rolled his eyes with a good natured smile, but regarded her with a sombre glint. "Just don't let Naruto know about his parents or your relation. Maybe in the future you'll be able to tell him, but–"

"Now's not the right time," Yura finished, sighing. "I got it." Though inside, there was an odd, meaningful tug that said otherwise. It spoke to her – told her to push aside what the Hokage and the council had decided upon because they didn't understand. But it was the same line of thinking she had taken up during her fruitless search for Uzumaki Kushina.

"Good." Sarutobi paused, glancing at the clock then frowning at the big stack of paperwork in front of him. "Is there anything else you'd like to discuss?"

Yura eyed the stack sheepishly, suddenly feeling intrusive. "No, thank you for your time. I'll leave you to your…important documents." She twitched at the sight of the orange cover of Icha Icha Paradise at the bottom as Sarutobi shifted the pile.

"Er – yes, good idea, seeing as I have…important files to sort," Sarutobi nodded at her in dismissal and hastily repositioned his arm to block the novel from view, face slightly pink.

Yura bowed and exited the office with an unsettled stomach. It was time to go hunting.

* * *

><p>It was harder to find a short blonde boy than she had expected. Twice she had followed a blonde head through a crowd, only to realise she had been mistaken. She finally stopped in a crossway and sighed. Who knew looking for someone could be so meticulous? She shielded her face from the sun with a hand and looked about.<p>

A civilian walked across her vision, clutching a box of take-away noodles their hands.

Her brows furrowed as she followed the figure. Her eyes landed on the familiar logo on the white box and she perked up.

_Ichiraku Ramen_, it read. Of course Naruto would be there. Hopefully.

Yura lifted the cloth flap and ducked inside the ramen stand, sliding into the seat next to Naruto. She watched him slurp broth for a few seconds, amused when he swiped around his mouth with a crisp napkin and slumped in his seat, looking like a contented cat. The empty bowl in front of him was surrounded by three other bowls, almost overflowing with noodles, chicken, pork and swirls.

Teuchi came around with a welcoming smile and took her order. He seemed to well like Naruto, judging by the brief fond look he shot at the blonde boy as he turned to prepare more noodles.

Naruto glanced at her with his bright blue eyes before happily turning back to his steaming bowl of noodles. She almost reached out to ruffle his spiky hair when he did a double take and his blonde strands whipped above his head.

He stared for a moment before he offered a warm but awkward smile. "Er–"

"You're Naruto, right?" Yura interrupted, filled with too much anticipation to hear the rest of it.

She could feel the uncomfortable sensation of vexed nerves in her stomach. It wasn't the same type she got when around Kaka – _Hatake_, it was more delicate and subdued. Unknowingly, she began to tap a finger on the counter. What if she really was going about this the wrong way? What if – somehow – he found out and would feel betrayed by her false indifference at this moment and condemned her?

Naruto blinked and nodded. "Uh, yeah…" He looked unsure whether or not to say more before slowly pulling another steaming bowl in front of him and digging his chopsticks in with glee.

She took the chance to observe him from head to toe.

His hair, she noted was the most obvious thing he had inherited from his father. His face though – the slant of his eyes, jawline, nose, mouth – was probably from Kushina. By the time she had moved on to study his small frame and wince at his orange jumpsuit he had twisted around in his seat and squinted at her with suspicion.

"What's up with all the staring, sensei? Got a crush on me or something?"

Yura blinked down at his ridiculous expression and laughed. "Ah, you caught me."

He gawked at her, clearly having not expected her to reply in such a manner.

Teuchi reappeared, a happy smile on his face as he placed a bowl of miso ramen in front of her. "Enjoy!"

It was Naruto's turn to stare as she snapped her chopsticks apart and dug them into the bowl, eating leisurely. She glanced at him and smiled as he slowly turned pink and muttered something under his breath. Kids were strange like that.

She felt at peace as they ate wordlessly, as if having ramen for lunch with a newly-discovered relative was typical. The drive to know Naruto better was telling her to initiate conversation again – being practically strangers while actually family just didn't make sense. Yura stopped eating and cast another look at the blonde by her side. She nearly dunked the full length of her chopsticks in the broth in her haste to start another conversation.

"So, Naruto…" She paused as the boy grunted through a mouthful of ramen and shook her head with a small smile. "Tell me about yourself."

After the blonde swallowed, he cocked his head to the side and looked at her curiously. "Why?"

She put effort into the way she shrugged casually, and swirled the contents of her bowl around. "Just curious."

He grimaced at her short answer and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I love ramen–"

Yura looked pointedly at the empty, stacked bowls in from of him. They looked like they would topple over any second.

"–and sometimes I think ramen understands me better than people do." Here Naruto laughed weakly, unconvincingly. "But I care a lot about my friends, especially my team. Sakura-chan, Sasuke – even though he's really, _really_ annoying – and Kakashi-sensei – oh! Iruka too! And, er..." he trailed off, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

Yura nudged him gently with her elbow. "Hm?"

Naruto looked at her with surprise before his face split into his trademark grin. "I'm going to be Hokage in the future!"

Yura blinked in amazement at how similar he was to his father. Her thoughtful silence clearly didn't live up to whatever reaction he was expecting and he was back to watching her with a curious expression.

"Why?"

Naruto tilted his head. "What?"

"Why do you want to be Hokage?"

Naruto clenched a fist to his face with determination, a lingering smile on his lips, and said, "So I can protect my precious people, protect Konoha, and bring peace to the ninja."

Yura almost shook her head with puzzlement. How on earth had he managed to become so strong and withstand the village's hatred and turn it into his strength? Maybe it was safe to say that Naruto had grown up better than jinchuriki generally did.

"I guess peace means different things to a lot of people," she said hesitantly, giving another glance at the bright hue of Naruto's eyes. "Personally, I doubt peace will ever exist as long as shinobi do. Peace is like perfection, right? So in order to achieve it, humanity must be perfect. We're just not." She stopped herself from getting more in depth, noting the boy's dismayed expression, and sighed. Way to discourage a boy's dreams. "But…I desperately want someone to prove me wrong. Who knows – maybe it'll be you when, you know, you become Hokage, or even before that."

Naruto answered with a wide, heartfelt smile and a nod. "I promise you that things will change in the future! There's a lot to work on, I think. Especially those damn cranky old people and their ugly gardens with lots of weeds. But the shinobi nations will be different and Konoha will be greater!"

He suddenly seemed much more mature for his age, face alight with promise and his voice unwavering in its determination. It was difficult not to have faith in him. And faith in him she had.

He talked her ear off for the next fifteen minutes, mostly about how important it was to notice the varying amounts of pork in accordance to chicken, miso and pork ramen. He then moved on to how his friends teased him about being named after something in a bowl of ramen, when _really, _it was the other way around.

Yura wondered how much longer it would take for Teuchi or Ayame to get sick of their presence and boot them out. She only had to wait another ten minutes before Teuchi came around.

"That's six thousand yen Naruto," Teuchi said almost gleefully.

Naruto's face fell as he dug his hands into his pockets and they emerged with only a few loose coins. He shook his head and decided to give another try, mumbling something about 'Gama-chan'. When he had the same result as his first attempt, he looked up and chuckled weakly. "Um…"

Yura reached into her own pocket and placed a few bills on the table. "Don't worry about it, I'll cover."

Naruto looked at her with an adorably hopeful expression. "Eh! Really?"

Yura flapped a hand. "Yes, yes, really."

"Thanks sensei, you're awesome!" Naruto beamed.

Yura grinned back. She was glad she had been able to bond with Naruto, even if it was over some noodles.

Surprisingly, Naruto decided to join her in walking along the busy streets of Konoha for what seemed to be an hour. He really was a bundle of energy – his exclamations emphasised by wild hand gestures and the occasional excited hop. She quickly realised that he could be exhausting at times, but was quick to grow on anyone with his bright grin and adorable cheek; already, she felt closer to the hyperactive blonde.

But she also noticed the looks they received. There were displeased narrowing of eyes and scowls directed at Naruto, and she found herself wondering how she could've missed them before. She looked down at Naruto to study his reaction. His hands were still waving around and he was still chattering excitably, and if she hadn't been looking for it she wouldn't have noticed that the glimmer of happiness in his eyes had flickered. It hurt to see someone so young face the coldness of the village.

There was a small debate in her mind whether to nor not, but once a hasty decision was reached she placed an arm around Naruto's shoulders and pulled him closer to her side. He tensed didn't say anything about the sudden change of distance between them until they rounded the road and there were less people milling around.

"Why…?" His question hung in the air, a gentle village breeze rustling past them.

A strange feeling overcame Yura and she shook her head to dispel the images of dull, jade eyes and a striking tattoo that spelled 'love'. She would do things differently this time, for her and Naruto. She wouldn't make the same mistake she had with Gaara.

"Because we're friends." She peeked down at him hesitantly to see if he agreed and met wide, blue eyes. A slow smile spread across his face and he nodded.

"Yeah, alright."

Yura turned her head away to hide her sigh of relief. Now she was definitely sure she was making progress with Naruto. She let her arm drop from his shoulders and walked in silence beside him, savouring the feeling of a newly-established bond with family.

A thought crossed her mind and she looked down at him curiously. "Hey Naruto, shouldn't you be training for the final round of the Chunin Exams?"

Naruto muttered something under his breath and pouted. "Yeah, but ero-sennin said he was busy doing some research. The old fart's actually spying on girls like his usual creepy self."

Yura didn't know how it was possible, but she managed to choke mid-breath. "What – _Kakashi?_" The thought was so ludicrous that she didn't realise that she had used the man's given name.

Naruto blinked and snorted. "Hah! He's too much of a book person to do that. I meant, uh…" He scratched his head with a look of confusion. "I forgot his name. Ah well, mustn't have been important then."

Yura stared at him meaningfully. "Hatake's not training you?"

His shoulders slumped and he turned his head away almost petulantly. "No. He's training Sasuke." Suddenly his demeanour changed and a smirk grew on his face. "But that's alright because I'm learning this cool technique and after I beat Hyuuga, I'll beat Sasuke and become chunin!"

Yura frowned but knew it wouldn't be professional to butt in and question Hatake about his teaching methods, nor would it benefit her students if she decided on helping Naruto. She looked down at his determined expression. _But still…_

"If you need any help and your sensei is busy, Naruto, I'm free, okay?"

Naruto gave her another look of surprise and then a wide smile she was becoming used to. "Ehhh, that's nice of you!" He suddenly halted in his steps. "Hey, wait…"

Yura stopped a few paces before him and realised that she was under the scrutiny of squinting blue eyes.

"You're not trying to be sneaky, are you? Hey, hey, that's unfair you know, to take advantage of a genin. I could tell on you and you could be disqualified." Naruto raised a condescending brow, looking rather silly as he did so.

Yura was completely lost and was starting to feel the effects of interacting with such an energetic person. "Naruto, what are you talking about?"

Naruto's face scrunched in thought. "Daiki and Junko are in the finals too! You're trying to trick me into telling you my secrets!"

She could only stare at the blonde wearily. "I'm not."

He sent another sceptical look her way. "You're not?"

"I'm not," she repeated firmly.

Naruto huffed and looked away with a pout.

Yura waited and when he only continued to sulk, she sighed. "Why? What makes you think that?"

"Well why else are you being so nice to me? Not that, uh, I'm saying it's bad, but it's really…sudden." Naruto scratched his head awkwardly, light pink settling on his cheeks.

She panicked for a few brief seconds before offering a fabricated reason. "You just remind me of a close friend." She paused and considered elaborating when Naruto made a sound of realisation.

"Eh, so that's why. Well, I guess that's good enough for me," Naruto replied with a relaxed smile, though there was a thoughtful gleam in his gaze that hinted otherwise. Yura eyed him warily and hoped more than anything that he wouldn't think too much into it.

* * *

><p>"So I hear you've been harassing my student," Hatake said with his usual lazy drawl, visible eye leaving the contents of the page to stare at her blankly. It was, though, enough for Yura to snap her head around and look at him with bewilderment.<p>

"Wha – excuse me? You're accusing me of–"

"Just kidding," his eye crinkled into a smile at her flustered and indignant expression. "Naruto did mention you though. He said that he wishes that there are more people like you who would pay for his ramen and offer to be friends." He raised a silver brow at her. "I take it things are going well with him?"

Yura couldn't help the pleased smile that she felt blossom across her face. "Yes, he's – he's very easy to get along with. I think he'd be a nice younger brother, actually."

"And you're intending to treat him as one? Naruto's not dumb enough for there to not be a chance that you'll help him find out about your relation. What do you plan to do when this happens and it diverges from the Hokage's orders?"

She sighed and raked a tired hand through her bright red hair, shooting the man an annoyed look at his subtle insult towards Naruto. "I'm not sure, Hatake. I'm still biding for some more time." She didn't need to be a mind reader to know that he was thinking along the same lines as her. "I know; it's a stupid thing to say since ninja don't have all the time in the world, but I just can't screw this up."

Hatake was silent for a while before he shut his novel and placed it on the low coffee table in front of them and spoke without looking at her, "I don't have any siblings and I'm pretty sure I have no long-lost relatives at the present, so I can't say I know where you're coming from. However, I can say that I would fancy a drink to brighten up such a horribly dreary day."

Yura watched interestedly as he uncorked a bottle of red wine and poured some of the liquid into his glass cup. She almost reached out to grab his arm when he also began to pour wine into her cup which had previously held water. Instead she settled for attacking him with a tight tone of voice. "Thank you, but it's unnecessary. I don't drink."

Hatake almost looked amused at her words as he set the bottle on the table once more and straightened in his seat, a hand around his glass. "You know, rules are made to be broken."

Yura was half tempted to give him a look of disbelief accompanied by a neat scoff, when a completely unexpected and…_attractive_ challenge glinting in his grey eye stopped her. For some unexplainable reason, it inspired a feeling in her that he wasn't only referring to her drinking scruples, but something that extended towards a deeper and more meaningful end.

And it was for that reason only, and not because she wanted to humour that handsome glint in Hatake's eye, that she wordlessly clasped a hand around the cool glass of her cup and swallowed a mouthful of bitter red wine.


End file.
